Challenges and Short Stories
by Akitsune Lune
Summary: Alternate realities, shameless fluff, and one-shots of all shapes and colours. The mad medicine cat of CliffClan, the curse of Swallowpaw, Prickle's revenge, leaders and rogues, medicine cats and warriors, and lots of murder. Get a cup of cocoa and gather round. Every cat has a story.
1. Star-Crossed Badgers

**This is a challenge for the Feathers and Frost forum, star-crossed badgers, so basic premise, Firestar's enjoying another boring day of StarClan when he run into two badgers.**

Another mouse-length... just a bit closer... gotcha!

Firestar sat up, the juicy vole hanging from his jaws, a self-satisfied expression floating onto his face.

He turned around lazily as he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.

Knowing it was StarClan, a land without enemies or need for guardedness, he was relaxed... and completely unprepared to come face to face with a couple of enormous, starry badgers.

"Gah!" He cried, before licking his chest embarrassedly and trying to dip his head at the same time. "Midnight. What brings you here? And who's this?"

Midnight shot the other badger an uncharacteristic amused look, as though she enjoyed seeing cats' reactions to a massive badger being within a tail-length of them.

"Introduce yourself, you should." Midnight rumbled to the slightly larger badger next to her.

"My name is Midday." He growled. "Midnight's... how the cats say?"

He tilted his huge black and white striped face to Midnight.

"Mate." She told him, before turning back to the shocked flame-coloured tom. "You wonder, why my mate I bring?"

Firestar just nodded a little, completely dumb-founded at the idea of Midnight being in love, much less having another badger for a mate.

"I not such a cat-friend..." Midday's words were a little garbled, but Midnight seemed to be leading him along, trying to signal him what to say next. "But I... how you say... bring... message, prophecy, omen... warning."

"I- but... how are you here?" Firestar stumbled across is words, trying to keep it simple for the struggling badger.

"We not happy!" Midday burst out, his beady gaze narrowing at Firestar. "Cat has broke barrier between the Land of Everlasting Eggs and Star-place."

"StarClan." Firestar automatically corrected. "And what is the Land of Everlasting Eggs?"

"Badger StarClan." Midnight supplied, before sending an exasperated look at her mate and taking over. "Young cat has broke barrier... now all the ended badgers come here, and take StarClan from cats."

"Wha- No... it can't be!" Firestar's voice broke. "We've served our Clan. We deserve rest, not dead badgers!"  
"Voice must be kept down!" Midnight snarled, glancing around furtively to make sure no cat heard them speaking. "Hope is there still. You must reunite StarClan and the Forest where the moon does not shine... Dark meadow... what you call? Dark Forest!"

"Reunite... StarClan... and the Dark Forest?" Firestar just stared at her, his brilliant green gaze disbelieving. "But-how... I... it's impossible!"

"No." Midday corrected grimly. "It is only way for any cat to survive past the day of their ending."


	2. Emergency

**Here's another challenge for my favourite forum :3. For those of you reading my other story, this doesn't actually happen, I'm just using the same characters, cause I'm far too lazy to make up a whole new cast.**

Emergency.

"Quick!" A cat yowled from somewhere across the moorland. "Bring her back, careful now! We have to get her to Littlepaw!"

 _Littlepaw._ A pounding began in his chest. _Littlepaw. Littlepaw. The medicine cat apprentice. Alone in his den, his mentor gone. Me._

"Morningpoppy!" The same cat shrieked again. "Morningpoppy, can you hear me?"

 _No. Anyone but her._ Littlepaw thought, panic clouding his vision as he bolted into the clearing.

"Littlepaw, she was gathering herbs, and-" Honeythorn's mew broke off as she glimpsed the complete and utter fear in his eyes. "What's wrong? You can help her, can't you? I know she's your mentor, but I'm sure she trained you to deal with a fox attack, right?"

 _No._ Littlepaw's eyes rolled back into his head as his paws buckled under him. _My happy-go-lucky mentor, attacked by a fox. And I'm going to pass out_.

"Littlepaw, stay with me!" Honeythorn gasped, shaking him with her golden paws.

 _I have to focus._ He could see her limp body in the corner of his eye. _I'm her only chance now._

"What do you need?" The deputy demanded, trying to catch his eye. "This is my sister, I'll do anything I can to help! Please, Littlepaw!"

 _Focus._ His head throbbed. _Focus._

All of a sudden, a familiar, sweet scent wreathed around him.

 _You can do this, my precious kit._ His mother's airy voice floated into his ears. _I believe in you._

"Amberpetal!" He gasped, not bothering to acknoledge Honeythorn's confused look. "Mother, don't go!"

 _I must._ Her voice was tinged with sorrow. _You must let me go. But fear not, it is not Morningpoppy's time. You can save her. I believe in you. I believe..._

"I can do this!" He cried, racing towards his mentor's broken body. "I can save you! Honeythorn, fetch some cobweb, as much as you can find. Copperpaw, quickly now, get some marigold from my den. Little dark, spiky green leaves, and orange-yellow flowers, take all of it. I'll save her!"

He quickly began grooming his mentor's ruffled, bloodied fur, trying to find the worst of the wounds.

"Thanks StarClan." He murmured, realizing that most of the cuts were shallow.

Honeythorn dropped a thick swathe of cobweb in front of him, and Copperpaw returned with a large mouthful of marigold.

Wasting no time, he chewed up the marigold into a paste furiously, before slathering it onto the deepest cut that stretched across his mentor's ginger flank. Once the marigold poultice had been properly applied, he ripped off half of the cobweb and stretched it across the tear.

"Li... Littlepaw..." His mentor's weak mew rasped into the silent, fearful air.

"Hush, save your strength." Littlepaw tried to comfort her while focusing on the bites on her hind-leg. "Jaypaw, fetch some water-soaked moss. She needs to drink."

His mentor fell silent again as he patched up the long, shallow slices on her scruff. Littlepaw forced down his rising panic as her eyes dulled, remembering Amberpetal's words. _It's not her time. I can save her!_

"Here!" Jaypaw's normally sassy and sullen tone had been replaced with a quiet, terrified whisper.

"Thanks." He mewed briefly, signalling to he to give him more space. "Morningpoppy, try to drink a little."

"Don't worry." She choked. "I won't leave you yet."

"You don't get a choice!" His mew broke, overcome with emotion. "I can't lose you! Not after what happened to Amberpetal! You're all I have left..."

The moment was shattered by the terrified caterwauls of the surrounding cats.

"Fox!" Honeythorn shrieked. "Fox in the camp!"


	3. Love-a Three Shot Part 1 BlueThistle

**CAN YOU FEEL, THE LOVE TONIGHT? Well, I can. Here's the Love-a-three-shot challenge :3**

 **So here we've got Bluestar X Thistleclaw/Crookedstar X Mapleshade. Until I made up those ships, I didn't really realize how much I liked them. Okay, you hate them, but let me try to convince you otherwise, with the Love-A-Three-Shot challenge :3.**

 **Pt. 1. Write about the incompatible cats and their kits (Bluefur X Thistleclaw edition)**

"Everything okay in there, Bluefur?" Smallear's black and white head poked into the nursery.

"I've told you, Smallear, I'm fine. But would you fetch Thistleclaw?" The gray-blue queen blinked contentedly as she mentioned her mate. "The kits are hungry again, and so am I."

"Sure thing." Smallear mewed. "He's been trying to get in. Like a fox, that one. I'm trying to give you some peace."

"Ha!" Bluefur flicked her friend's ear amiably. "Doesn't count as giving me peace if _you're_ always bothering me."

"Should I go?" His eyes widened. "I don't mean to-"

"No, no, it's fine." She purred at his discomfort. "But Thistleclaw takes up a lot of room, so I wouldn't hang around if you don't want to be squished into the thorny nursery walls!"

"True." Smallear dipped his head, padding out of the nursery with a last glance at Bluefur.

Now that all distractions had left the nursery, she could feel her tiny kits squirming at her belly. The smallest, a dark gray spiky-furred tom with Thistleclaw's amber eyes, let out a high-pitched mewl when he didn't find any milk.

"It's all right, little one." She mewed gently, pressing him against her furry flank with her tail. "Your father will bring us prey-"

She was cut off as a large gray and white patched tom pushed into the nursery.

"And there he is, the tom himself." She murmured, love blooming in her heart all over again. "Thistleclaw."

His amber eyes glowed as he saw his mate and kits all curled up in their nest.

"Bluefur." He dropped the huge, juicy rabbit he was carrying. "How are they doing?"

"Hungry." She rose to greet him, pressing herself against his warm fur. "Thank you."

He knew she meant for more than just the rabbit, but he nudged it towards her paws all the same.

"You should have some fresh-kill." He whispered to her, grooming her ears briefly.

"Oh, I know. My belly thinks my throat's been clawed out!" Bluefur purred. "Thank you. This is a lovely piece."

"Caught it myself." He said proudly. "And you already thanked me, furball. Don't need to do it twice."

"You caught this yourself?" She mewed, blue eyes shining up at him. "You're amazing! Hear that, kits? Your father is the best hunter the Clans have ever seen!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say best in the Clans," He gave his chest fur a few fake-embarrassed licks. "I would say best... anywhere!"

"Arrogant furball." She gave him a light shove, and he toppled over, pretending to be dead.

Their three little kits scampered over to investigate the great gray and white lump that had arrived next to their nest.

"Oof!" Thistleclaw huffed as the kits clambered onto his broad shoulders. "Careful there, my old bones won't take it! Dovekit, are your claws out? And Cloudykit, what have I said about shredding my ears!? And who's biting my tail? Stormkit, I thought I raised you better than that!"

"Be careful with your father." Bluefur's eyes sparkled with amusement. "He's a delicate flower!"

"Oh really?" He demanded playfully, scooping the kits onto his shoulders as they squealed with delight, before charging at Bluefur. "How's this for delicate?"

 **Ugh, so sweet my teeth rotted and fell out. Well, I guess I'll have to put up with it considering one of the tags on my other fanfiction (Which you should totally go check out!) is romance, after all. Anyway, that was part one of Love-a three shot, so two more on the way, unless of course I end up using Crookedstar X Mapleshade instead... Which I might :3**


	4. Love-a Three Shot Part 2 CrookedMaple

**Back with Love-a three shot challenge. This time we've got Crookedstar and Mapleshade, with their ADORABLE kits. So, what did you think of the last one? P.S. Snowcrystal, in Part 2 of BlueThistle, we might find out...**

 **Part 1. Write about the incompatible cats and their kits.**

The tortoise-shell and white she-cat yowled into the thick, unforgiving air of the Dark Forest.

"Silverhawk!" She shrieked. "Fetch Crookedstar!"

"But- but I can't cross into StarClan!" He said, eyes wide with panic.

"You can now!" She dug her claws into the ground, clenching her teeth. "It's an emergency! And get Redsky here, too!"

"O- Okay." The silver tom hared away, the slimy, dark trees encasing him as he ran to fetch the Dark Forest medicine cat and Mapleshade's mate.

She hissed, trying to keep control over herself.

"I'm here! I'm here!" A voice she knew well echoed across the peaty earth. "Mapleshade, where are you?"

"Over... here!" She managed, unsheathing and sheathing her claws.

"Crookedstar?" The hiss of the medicine cat, Redsky, reached her flattened ears. "What's a StarClan cat doing here?"

"I'm her mate!" The brown tom insisted, coming into view with the ginger Dark Forest medicine cat on his tail. "They're my kits!"

"Old Mapleshade's having kits again, huh?" He snarled. "With a StarClan cat, no less."

"Stop bickering and get over here!" Mapleshade yowled.

They came to her side, Redsky looking sullen and Crookedstar looking terrified.

"The last time..." He trailed off, eyes filled with memories of a pretty silver tabby howling in pain, then another cat, similar, yet different, also yowling as she gave birth.

"It will be different." She hissed. "Now remind me why _I'm_ comforting _you_ while _I_ give birth?"

"Sorry, sorry!" Crookedstar lay down beside her, wrapping his tail over her neck.

"Out of the way, StarClan filth!" Redsky hissed, pushing him aside so he could feel Mapleshade's flank.

"Hey!" Crookedstar objected.

"Just two." Redsky's mew gentled for a moment.

"O- okay." Mapleshade gritted her teeth.

The strongest spasm yet racked her body as she gave birth to the first little kit.

"Hello." Crookedstar greeted his new daughter quietly, nudging her ginger, golden, and brown flank gently with his nose.

"One more." Redsky told Mapleshade, looking bored.

"Aargh!" She yowled as another painful ripple passed across her flank.

"And there she is." Redsky bent and nipped open the slimy membrane of the second daughter, a tortoise-shell.

"They're beautiful." Crookedstar whispered.

Mapleshade puffed out a breath, exhausted. It was over.

"Well, I'll be going." Redsky rolled his eyes. "Sappy StarClan fools."

Crookedstar paid him no mind, comforting his mate.

"What shall we name them?" He murmured to her.

"I- I don't know." She whispered hoarsely. "You choose."

"This one has the colours of dawn." Crookedstar gave his brown, golden, and ginger kit a lick on the head. "Perhaps Dawnkit for her?"

"Yes, that's a good name. A new dawn." Mapleshade muttered.

"And I can already tell these kits will be opposites, so we could name this one Duskkit?" Crookedstar mewed tentatively, watching as one of them squirmed towards her mother for milk, and the other began to explore the new world.

"Duskkit and Dawnkit. The beginning and the end." Mapleshade whispered, love filling her eyes as she looked up at Crookedstar. "Just like you and I."

Suddenly, a white light shimmered in the air.

 _Mapleshade._ A strange voice whispered. _Mapleshade, it is time._

"For what?" She hissed, digging her claws into the soil. "I can't leave!"

 _Do not be afraid. It is time... for you to join Crookedstar._

"What- what do you mean?" She whispered, glancing around fearfully.

 _It is time for you to join StarClan. Your black heart has been cleaned by the light of true love. You have found true happiness._ The voice became almost musical.

"Really?" Her eyes filled with hope.

 _Go to the border, Mapleshade._

"Come on!" Wasting no time, she picked up Duskkit and hurried towards the harsh white light that seperated StarClan and the place of no stars.

"Where-" Crookedstar cut himself off as Mapleshade bolted away, energy mysteriously renewed.

He picked up Dawnkit by the scruff, and followed his mate through the white light and into StarClan's pristine hunting grounds.

 _You have found your destiny_. The voice faded away.

"I can stay here!" Mapleshade turned to Crookedstar. "I can stay! I never have to return to the Dark Forest!"

"How..." Crookedstar trailed off, pressing his muzzle against his mate's.

"I love you." She whispered.

 **Ah, true love. A beautiful thing. I love their kits. I've always thought Mapleshade deserved a happy ending, and there it is. For those of you who don't have the complete list of all warrior cats ever on their wall, Redsky is not a CC, he's my friend's OC.**

 **Welp, that was part 1 of CrookedMaple. FuNfAcT: I almost made it have a sad ending, where their kits died or something as a price for Mapleshade's freedom, but I didn't want to do that to Mapleshade, I love her far too much. And for those of you who are confused about how a dead cat gave birth, well, ya see, when a cat dies pregnant, they give birth in StarClan, so I figured, what the heck, a dead cat can get pregnant. Sorry if you don't like it :(**

 **Stay tuned for part 2 of BlueThistle, coming soon! Until next time :3**

 **~Pondfrost**


	5. Love-a Three Shot Part 3 BlueThistle

**This is part 2 of Love-a Three shot challenge, BlueThistle edition :3. HAHA SNOWFUR TIME FOR YOU TO GET WRECKED. Ahem, sorry.**

 **Pt. 2. Write about the two incompatible cats and how they fell in love. (Bluefur X Thistleclaw edition.)**

"Why, Snowfur?" Thistleclaw's normally fierce amber eyes were full of pain. "I can't be your mate if you don't want to be mine anymore."

"I'm sorry! Thistleclaw, please!" Snowfur cried.

"No, Snowfur! It's too late for that." His heart felt as though it was breaking into little pieces. "You chose Thrushpelt. For StarClan's sake, you're expecting his kits! I wish you had never been my mate."

"Thistleclaw!" She called, her voice breaking a little as he turned away. "Thistleclaw!"

Thistleclaw snarled, but it came out sounding more like a sob.

"Leave me alone." He whispered, the words dragging themselves out of his mouth like the thistles he was named after. "Please. Please!"

Snowfur dropped to the ground, whimpering as her former mate walked away from her.

"I can explain!" She yowled futilely, burying her face in her paws. "I didn't mean for this to happen!"

Feeling disgusted, used, and anguished, Thistleclaw turned so his paws were on a path that would take him further into the forest.

"I never should have trusted her." He whispered to himself, pain lacing his words. "Why, Snowfur? Why?"

"What did you say?" A startled mew came from nearby.

 _Bluefur._ He thought. _You should be the_ _second_ _last cat I want to see right now, but..._

He buried his sobbing muzzle into her soft blue-gray fur.

She held herself rigid and still as he choked out a ragged breath.

He could feel her heart beating through her fur as he cried out in internal pain.

"Bluefur..." He drew away, feeling ridiculous.

"I understand." Her eyes, normally blue chips of ice, softened. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He nodded, pulling in another long breath. He sat back down, embarassed.

"Are you alright now?" She asked.

"Thank you." He whispered.

 _For more than you think._ His mind murmured. _Thank you... for a second chance, Bluefur..._

"Thistleclaw, did something happen with Snowfur?" She asked gently, using her tail to tilt his chin up.

He nodded silently.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

He shook his head, still silent.

"Do you want to hunt with me?" She asked carefully.

"Yes, please." He whispered, almost choking on the words.

"I'm going to catch a thrush." Bluefur's eyes sparked.

Thistleclaw purred tentatively.

"Come on, let's forget about the rest of the Clan for now." Bluefur led him through the forest. "Today it's just you and I."

"Okay." He murmured, stepping a little closer to Bluefur, feeling as shy as an apprentice.

"This way, I know a spot." She hopped up onto a thin branch of a low-growing bush.

He followed her as they reached the center of the bush, where there was a little area.

"Come on, we can bring our prey back here." Bluefur told him.

 _Second chances._ He thought, a tiny emotion creeping into his heart.

 **Awwwww so cute. HA SNOWFUR IN YOUR SMUG LITTLE FACE.**

 **Sorry.** **Anyway...**

 **That was a pleasant break from all that sappy cheese.**

 **Pondfrost**


	6. Love-a Three Shot Part 4 CrookedMaple

**Mmmm thanksgiving dinner**

 **mmmm gravy**

 **mmmmmmmm stuffing**

 **Sorry. This is Part 4 of Love-a Three Shot challenge :D with CrookedMaple yay!**

 **Part 2. Write about the two incompatible cats and how they fell in love.**

Mapleshade paced across the peaty earth of the Dark Forest.

 _Damn that StarClan cat._ She thought. _Damn him and his handsomeness and his heroicness and his tragic life and his brave spirit and his kind heart... why did it have to be this way? Just one more time... let me see him one more time._

"Damn him!" She spat aloud.

"Damn who?" A silky purr came from behind her.

She whipped around to face the origin of the voice. For a moment she thought the brown tom was... him... but no, it was just Tigerstar, skulking around as usual.

"Leave me alone." She hissed.

"Oh, but you're so lonely..." Tigerstar murmured in false sympathy. "Don't you want someone to keep you company?"

"Not you." Mapleshade snarled, her fur rising along her spine, her claws creeping out.

"Oh, alright." Tigerstar backed off until she couldn't see him anymore, just his amber eyes, glowing in the dim half-darkness.

Hissing to herself, she padded off into the lighter parts of the forest, closest to the border. _Damn Tigerstar, too. Damn all of them._ She tore her claws through the slimy weeds growing around the base of a off-centre maple tree.

Staring up at the tree, she raked her claws down it, snarling, imagining Tigerstar's smug face in the bark.

"Ma-Mapleshade?" A tentative, but warm mew echoed through the twisted branches.

"Can it be?" She whispered, all pretense of being a fierce, unbeatable, unshakable rock fell and she raced through the trees towards the border.

"Crookedstar?" She gaped at him, before throwing herself towards him. "Crookedstar!"

"Mapleshade!" He bounded towards the bright white border.

 _Can he cross?_ She worried. _What will happen-_ Her anxious train of thought was cut off as Crookedstar passed straight through the harsh light that seperated The Place of No Stars and StarClan.

"Crookedstar, I have to tell you-" She broke off as he laid his tail gently across her muzzle.

"Shh." He whispered softly to her. "I must tell you something first."

The moment he unwrapped his tail from her jaws, she took a deep breath and spoke as quickly as she could.

"Crookedstar, I think I'm in love with you." She stared at him.

"Mapleshade, I think I'm in love with you." The words were barely out of his mouth when he registered what she had said.

"I'm so happy you feel the same way..." He whispered, twining his tail with hers.

...

"Bluestar, do you know if there's any way to cross the border of the Dark Forest?" Crookedstar asked the gray-blue she-cat beside him.

"Why would you want to do that?" Her bright eyes narrowed. "The only way to cross is if a Dark Forest cat wants you to."

"Thank you." He nodded, and set off towards the darker parts of StarClan, nearer to the border, trying to hide his inner turmoil from his close friend.

"Crookedstar..." Bluestar called after him, but he was already gone.

The sturdy brown tom gulped, glancing around at his surroundings. He was only a couple tail-lengths from the shining light that seperated the two worlds.

Against his better judgement, he called out softly.

"Ma- Mapleshade?" He cursed himself as soon as the words were out.

 _She won't hear you, fool._ He thought. _Why do you even want to see her? She took everything from you! But I need her._

For a moment he thought he heard something, but he assumed his ears were playing tricks on him.

Then, a lithe form appeared in the white light, but far away...

"Crookedstar?" It whispered.

"Mapleshade!" All thoughts he had flew right out of his head as he bolted towards the border, incapable of anything but attempting to get closer to her.

He saw Mapleshade's eyes widen in a strange mixture of fear and hope as he leaped through the light.

For a moment, his fur was cold as ice, but then the feeling faded and all he could feel was the humid, damp air of the Place of No Stars.

"Crookedstar, I have to tell you-" He shivered at her raspy voice, but forced his tail over her muzzle.

"Shh." He murmured, staring into her beautiful amber eyes. "I must tell you something first."

His throat felt like it was closing. He couldn't say it. He had to say it.

Of its own accord, his tail dropped off of her muzzle.

He closed his eyes, and spoke quickly.

"Mapleshade, I think I'm in love with you." He blurted, then his eyes widened as he realized she had said the same to him.

His tail twined with hers.

"I'm so happy you feel the same way..." His eyes stung as he lost himself in her deep amber pools.

 **EEEEYUCK. Sorry, gag reflex.**

 **Ugh. But they deserve it.**

 **We're more than half-way through, peeps! Next time we're back off to BlueThistle stuff, and see what happens with their kits... whose names I can't remember... Cloudykit was one, I think. Dovekit might have been another... Stormkit? I don't know, I'll have to check back.**

 **I KNOW IT LOOKS LIKE I DON'T CARE ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THEIR NAMES I DO IT'S JUST I HAVE A REALLY BAD MEMORY OK? :(**

 **lol.**

 **~Pondfrost**


	7. Imagination or Reality?

**I joined another forum! :P This one's TorrentClan! Lots of fun, seems like a friendly and well-run place! Anyway, if I ever want to amount to anything in my life other than a puny little kit, a couple challenges are going to get done! So here we've got 'Imagination or Reality'?** **A cat talked to a warrior that** **s** **he made up, and not exist. Other warriors thought** **\** **she was mad, so** **\** **she gave up this action, until** **\** **she saw a cat looked like the cat she had made up and named as the prefix of the non-exist warrior while he or she was on patrol work. He or she realised something...**

"Streamflight! Let's go!" Snapped the short-tempered deputy, Splashfoot. "We don't have all day! Tell whatever-you-call-her that you'll talk to her later, or I'm giving you apprentice duty for a moon!"  
Glaring at the deputy, Streamflight turned her pale blue gaze back to Emberclaw.

"I've got to go on patrol. I'll talk to you later, we can share a pike or something, okay?" She held Emberclaw's yellow gaze for another few moments, ignoring the annoyed snort of the deputy.

"You know I hate pike. How about trout? And Streamflight, you can't keep talking to me in plain view like this, the rest of your Clan..." Emberclaw's soft mew sounded like it was coming from the clouds, but Streamflight knew it was real.

She didn't care what her Clanmates said.

"Streamflight!" Growled Splashfoot.

"I'm coming." She sighed, glancing back at Emberclaw, whose tortoiseshell fur shone it the sunlight. "See you later."

"Yes." Her mew rang with a deeper meaning.

Shivering, partly from the cold and partly from Emberclaw's ominous voice, she padded after her patrol.

...

"And that's when I jumped onto the fox, using the move my mentor had just taught me-" Blacknose's long-winded story was cut short by Splashfoot's annoyed mew.

"If you can keep your wide jaws shut for a few heart-beats, I'd like to get onto marking the border." Not waiting for a reply, she stepped forward to mark the clump of thick grass that served as a border between RiverClan and the territory beyond.

Streamflight padded up beside her to mark the border a few tail-lengths away, when a gasp of surprise split her jaws.

"Huh? Oh, a loner. At least he's not on our territory." Mewed Heronstrike, sounding bored.

"It's a _she,_ and she's getting closer." Splashfoot replied, flicking her mate's nose with her tail. "Tortoise-shells aren't toms."

 _Tortoise-shell._ Streamflight's gut twisted. _It can't be._

"Hello?" Called the cat in the distance, but who was rapidly approaching. "I need help! I can't remember anything! Who am I?"

"Great StarClan, another idiotic loner." Blacknose muttered, obviously still put out by Splashfoot's harsh remark earlier.

"Can't remember?" Streamflight murmured.

"My name! I know my name!" The cat yowled, closing the fox-lengths between herself and the rest of the patrol rapidly. "It's... Ember."

 _Ember._ A pounding began in Streamflight's head. _Ember... Emberclaw. It can't be her. It is. It couldn't... but it is. How?_ The question rang in her mind, unanswered.

"You! I know you!" Ember padded up to Streamflight, recognition flickering in her eyes.

 _Mother._

 **That was fun! So, did the ending surprise anyone? No? Damn. Oh well. Onto the next challenge!**

 **~Pondfrost**


	8. My Fault

**Next! Next! Next! This time, we've got one called My Fault (Also for TorrentClan)! Intriguing premise:** **A young tom is very close with his sister... Too close, many said. Turns out they were right; one day he finds out she is expecting kits... his kits. Does this destroy their relationship? How do they react? What do they do?** **Hon hon ron ron baguette.**

 _Great StarClan._ Thornbright stared at her white belly fur. _I'm expecting kits? What? I can't be! Whose are they?! Oh. Oh no._

 _StarClan help me._

 _..._

 _I can't tell her. How do I tell her? Should I tell her?_ Prickletail's thought were so jumbled he couldn't untangle one from another.

"Well?" Thornbright's amber eyes bored into his. "I'm expecting your kits! What are you going to do about it?"

 _I have to. It's the only way._

"Thornbright, listen." He began, his voice quavering under the weight of what he was about to confess. "I love you. I don't care what the Clan says. I know you're my sister-"

He broke off, barely ducking the hefty blow his sister nearly connected with his head.

"Damn right, I'm your sister! You can't- you aren't-" She stumbled over her words, but the fury in her voice never dissapeared, and it did an excellent job of hiding her intense shock. "We can't have kits! We can't be mates! We- you- it's not-"

"Shh." Against his better judgement, he pressed his pelt to her fluffed up one. "We can figure this out."

"No! NO!" She backed up, a wild look in her eyes. "This wasn't supposed to happen! I was going to tell Cedartuft today, he'll never be my mate if-"

"Cedartuft. I should have known." Prickletail growled. "I'll take care of him."

"What?! No! I love him! Don't you dare lay a single claw on him." Thornbright unsheathed her claws. "I'll shred you!"

"Okay, calm down." Prickletail pressed his muzzle to her ear.

"Don't touch me!" She widened the distance between them. "You've made things bad enough. Wait until Willowstreak hears, she'll be so angry-"

"Don't tell anybody!" Prickletail pleaded. "Especially not her. She wouldn't understand."

"She's our sister! She deserves to know if one of us is going to have kits!" Thornbright took off into the forest.

"Wait!" Prickletail yowled, charging after her. "Listen!"

"I've heard enough!" Thornbright shot back, speeding up.

 _She always won when we raced as kits. But I let her. I can catch her. I'll convince her._ He thought, determined. _She'll see. It won't be bad, the Clan will come around. ThunderClan has accepted worse than in-bred kits before._

He pounded through the forest, clearing logs and swerving through bramble thickets, but he was barely catching up to her. He realized where she was going. Camp.

 _No. She can't. If anyone finds out... she can't!_ His thoughts spiraled out of control, and he forgot everything but the rythmic thrumming of his paws on the dense earth.

"Clanmates!" Thornbright yowled, careening through the thorn barrier. "I must tell you something!"

"No!" Snarled Prickletail, lashing out into the air for where her hind-quarters had been a moment before.

"Clanmates! Gather 'round!" Thornbright called, now on top of the high-rock. "There's something that needs to be said."

"I thought I was leader-" Dawnstar was cut off as she watched with wide eyes as Prickletail took a flying leap at his sister.

"I'm- I'm-" Thornbright choked out, tussling with Prickletail.

Three senior warriors launched themselves onto the high-rock and dragged Prickletail away from his sister.

"I'm expecting his kits!" Her mew was high, clear, and determined.

"She's lying!" Coughed out Prickletail, pinned by the warriors, in a futile last attempt to save his crumbling reputation.

"No." Thornbright snarled down at him. "But it matters not whether you believe me or not, you will all see the truth in two moons. And there is one more thing I must ask. Cedartuft, will you be my mate, once we have driven out this traitorous scum? Will you help me raise these unwanted kits to be warriors ThunderClan can be proud of, regardless of their heritage?"

One of the senior warriors holding down a wriggling and spitting Prickletail raised his head.

"Thornbright." Cedartuft stared at her, his eyes glowing with love as though he had not heard any of her announcement except her declaration of love. "I would be honored."

The two other warriors hauled Prickletail to his paws.

"What's going to happen to me?" Prickletail demanded, attempting a fruitless swipe at one of his captors.

"That's for Dawnstar to decide." Birchfang growled softly, tilting her head to her leader.

"I need no time." The ThunderClan leader's voice was cold. "Prickletail, you are hereby exiled from ThunderClan. If you are found within our borders after sunset, you shall be treated as an intruder."

"What?!" Prickletail's eyes widened in panic and confusion as the two warriors shoved him towards the exit of the camp.

"Leave." Dawnstar's voice was as unmoving and hard as stone, and her tail lashed once.

"One day, I will return." Prickletail hissed quietly. "And you will all be sorry."

...

"There it is." Prickle murmured, staring at the familiar copse of trees. "I was so young. I wonder how the kits are? Are they well-fed? Good warriors?"

He stared at his once-home, feeling nostalgia ecompassing him. _I hope she forgives me. We were young and foolish. I've been a loner for many seasons, and I know more of the life outside the Clans than any other Clan cat. Was it worth it?_

He padded down the slope towards the path that would take him towards the camp, the same one he had chased his sister along all those moons ago.

 _I'm back..._

"I'm back!" He yowled aloud, the familiar memories flooding into his head.

 _Did anyone hear me?_ He wondered, scanning the clearing furtively. _I smell cats... but I can't tell how recent..._

"So... he's returned." A lithe gray she-cat slipped out of the trees. "The infamous sister-mater."

He flinched as many cats trailed out fanned out behind her. Some he recognized, some he didn't.

"That's a harsh name." He mewed silkily, bowing his head to show he wasn't a threat, but not before he noticed some awful things about the gray cat.

First, her muzzle was heavily scarred, evidence of many lost battles. Second, the place where one of her eyes had been was... empty. Not like Yellowtree's, one of the elders from his past life, who had lost his eye in battle, but more... natural. Smooth gray fur covered her eye cavity, hiding nothing and everything at the same time. The overall effect was horrifying.

"What... are you?" He choked out under his breath.

"I may not have one eye, but my hearing's fine." The cat growled. "Isn't it obvious? I'm your daughter!"

"What?" Prickle couldn't hide his disgust. "Where's the rest of you?"

"Oh, poor, unsuspecting, Prickletail." Another, uncomfortably familiar she-cat stepped out from the patrol. "Always were a bit slow, weren't you?"

"Thornbright." He hissed, staring down his sister, who held his gaze coldly, unflinching.

"I had more, oh yes. four more, in fact. A hard birth." She padded around him slowly, inspecting every hair on his prickling pelt. "Cloudkit died, too weak to survive a single day. Beetlepaw was next, ripped apart by a badger he couldn't hear. Then it was Chestnutfur, falling out of a tree, breaking almost every bone in that poor body of hers. It's hard to balance without a tail, you know? Next came Fogwhisper. A sad one, he was. Couldn't even run from the fox that snapped off the one fore-leg he _was_ born with. Missing two of them, well, he couldn't get away of course, so that fox made quick work of him. There was barely anything left when we found him the next day."

Prickle was speechless as his sister recounted each kits' death, no emotion left in her voice.

"Dusteye is the only one left." Not turning away from her brother, Thornbright flicked her tail towards the eye-less gray she-cat. "For now at least."

"I won't die!" Dusteye glared at her mother with one eye.

"Of course you won't, _dear._ " Thornbright hissed.

"Wait! You're- you're expecting kits!" Prickle stared at Thornbright's belly. "Whose-"

"Cedartuft's, of course." She glanced down at her belly, warmth lighting her gaze for a moment. "These kits are my chance to start over. A new life, with a new family."

"I guess I'm not needed here then." Prickle turned away, his mew sharpening.

Thornbright's eyes immdiately darkened to twin amber pools of fury.

"What did you expect to find? A happy family that only missed the father? Try again." Thornbright's mew was icy. "Go back to whatever dark hole you crawled out of, and take this one with you. You'd be doing us all a favor."

She shoved Dusteye toward her father.

"Mother-" Dusteye's cool mew became thick and wet with hurt.

"Don't call me that, fox-dung." Thornbright turned around, touching noses with another cat that Prickle now recognized as Cedartuft.

 _You. You wrecked_ everything. _Everything!_ Blind with rage, he launched himself at Cedartuft.

"NO!" Thornbright shrieked, moving fluidly into Prickle's path as his claws lashed out, tearing a clean slice through her neck.

"No!" Cedartuft's eyes rounded as he watched his mate sink to the ground, blood spilling from the terrible gash in her neck.

"No." Prickle's mew was choked. "What have I done?"

"What have you done?" Cedartuft's mew was so twisted in rage that it was barely recognizable.

Cedartuft leaped onto Prickle, pinning him.

"You will pay."

Then Cedartuft, pale green eyes blazing with the force of his black fury, whipped his head forward and snapped his jaws shut onto Prickle's neck.

Blinding pain, a flash of red, and then darkness.

 **Roses are red,**

 **Thorns are prickly,**

 **Holy sh**,**

 **That escalated quickly.**

 **Always end with a death :). That was actually... really dark. Great StarClan, that was... something. I don't know, when a story starts careening along that kinda path, it's much easier to let it smash into the final barrier of like, twelve deaths, than try to steer it back over to fluffy and happy.**

 **Pondfrost**


	9. If Only

**Last one for today, peeps. It's "If only": A leader (female) falls in love with a loner (male) and becomes pregnant with his kits. Despite their love for each other, neither is willing to give up their current life for each other. What happens when they have to part? Goooood question, and I'm about to answer it :P.**

"Winter! Winter, where are you?" The silver she-cat called out softly.

"Cool it, Pinky." The fluffy white tom appeared behind her, right out of the cold leaf-bare blizzard.

"Thank StarClan. And hey, I thought I told you to stop calling me that!" Slickstar turned to glare playfully at her mate.

"Oh sorry, your majesty." He dipped his head exaggeratedly. "It's high time you told me about this StarClan business, eh?"

"It's a pefect night for it." She replied, turning around so she was sitting at the mouth of the tiny cave they were sheltered in.

He joined her, twining his tail with hers.

"I can't focus if you do that!" Against her own words, Slickstar leaned on his shoulder.

Their breath billowed out into the frosty air, joining the wisps of clouds that drifted in front of the moon every now and again.

"The stars are shining-" Slickstar began, but was cut off by her mate murmuring in her ear.

"Not as brightly as you, love." Winter's glimmering blue eyes made all the thoughts fly out of her head, and she leaned softly into his comforting warmth.

...

"Winter, I'm expecting kits." Slickstar blurted, staring at the loner, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Kits." The normally un-shakable half-amused expression he wore had been replaced with one of dumb-founded surprise. "Kits. Huh."

"Winter! This is awful!" She pressed her muzzle to his, eyes wide with panic. "I can't have kits! You can't have kits! You need to join ShadowClan!"

"Or... you could become a loner." He pointed out, his mew suddenly cool.

"What?" She pulled away. "I can't leave my Clan!"

"And I can't join it." Winter replied, his blue eyes not meeting her demanding green ones. "I would never fit in. And would your Clanmates accept me?"

"Of course!" Slickstar retorted. "If I told them- I'm their leader- they would-"

"You don't make the rules." He interrupted. "That's precisely why I can't. I need a free life. And that..."

He broke off, his voice raw. Slickstar waited with bated breath for the end of his sentence.

"That might mean a life... without you."

Slickstar's eyes rounded, and then began to blaze with fury.

"Does our love mean nothing to you?!" She demanded, taking a threatening step towards him.

"I think what you should be asking is, does our love mean nothing to _you_." Winter's cool blue gaze remained trained on the floor of the den. "My offer still stands. Become a loner, Pinky, we can make it through together."

She flinched at the sound of his nickname.

"I can't." She breathed. "I'm sorry, Winter. Winter!"

But her desperate mew fell on the empty ears of the gently falling snow. He was gone, dissappeared into the unforgiving white of the snowy land.

"Winter..." She felt her eyes begin to sting.

...

"We should send out the patrols as soon as possible. We need the fresh-kill fully stocked. With leaf-bare here, we'll need all the strength we can get to fight off green-cough." Pineclaw turned to his leader, green eyes narrowing in worry. "Shall I send for Fennelwing?"

"No." Slickstar murmured listlessly. "Send out the patrols."

 _I can't find the same passion that drove me to deputy, and then to leader. What has happened to me?_ Slickstar wondered to herself, her whole body feeling numb.

"Very well." Even as he exited the den, his eyes darted back to his leader a couple of times.

 _Perhaps I should have taken Wint-_ him _up on his offer._ Slickstar thought, watching her strong deputy organizing the day's patrols. _The Clan would be in good paws with Pineclaw as their leader. Pinestar. It matters not how loyal I am to my Clan if I cannot find any strength to lead them. It's only been a night, but it feels like my heart has shattered. Still though, every piece belongs to him._

"Slickstar?" A brown and gray head poked into her den, green eyes glittering with worry. "Are you alright?"

"I told Pineclaw, I'm fine." She replied, staring at the wall of her den emotionlessly.

"Pineclaw didn't send me." Fennelwing told her sharply. "And you don't sound fine."  
"Well, I am." She retorted weakly, unable to find any reason to be strong.

 _Winter. Winter. Winter._ Her heart pounded out, each one hurting more than the last.

"Let me check your stomach." Fennelwing advanced on her, looking worried.

Sighing, Slickstar resigned herself to being checked over by the Clan's medicine cat.

"Well, you seem physically healthy..." Fennelwing breathed out heavily. "but you didn't eat last night, and you don't seem yourself..."

Slickstar didn't reply.

"Slickstar!" A distant yowl reached the silent den.

Slickstar stood up slowly, feeling as though she was swimming against a strong current, and stepped out of the den.

"Slickstar!" Closer now.

She sped a bit, curious but unconcerned as to what could warrant yowling for the leader.

"Slickstar, we found-"

She didn't even hear the rest of his sentence. There, in the middle of the snow-drenched clearing, lay the slumped form of a fluffy white tom.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

 _Winter._ Her foolish, foolish heart screamed.

 _Winter._

It was Winter.

"Winter..." A low keening noise scraped out of her.

She collapsed beside the lifeless body of the one she had loved.

"Slickstar-" One of the cats on the patrol that had found him stepped forward, looking uncomfortable.

"Leave me." The same raspy squeak responded to him.

"Very well." He nodded, flicking his tail to signal to the cats to back off.

"Winter." She choked, then her voice rose to a shrill, raw howl, mourning all she had lost.

"WINTER!"

 **Well, that was horribly satisfying to write. Why so much death? This is getting horribly dark. Oh well, it's more fun :)... Hazelpaw, here I come! On my way to medicine cat! :D**

 **~Pondfrost**


	10. Liar

**Challenges! Challenges! Challenges everywhere!**

 **More more moremoremoremore! This one's called Liar :)** **A cat dies and the leader of the clan lies about the cat as they mourn. You can pick what they talk about. The leader can make a saint of an evil cat, or a devil of an Angel. Be as creative as possible.**

Liar.

Driftcloud's POV

 _What does she think she's doing?_ Driftcloud demanded silently, staring at Flarestar. _Wildfire was awful! To all of us! He... he... he hurt him. My brother. Now that StarClan has finally struck him down, she speaks of him as though he was our savior!_

"His courage was unmatched." Flarestar's voice shook with unspoken emotion.

 _Lies._ Driftcloud thought, disgusted. _He abandoned us when we needed him most. How can she say that he saved us when he destroyed us? How can she say he was good when he was the most evil cat_ _on the moor_ _? How can she say this, when she knows it's a lie?_

"He cared for each of his Clanmates the same, and always put his Clan first." Flarestar continued, her pale amber eyes glimmering.

 _Well, that's true at least. He cared for each of his Clanmates exactly the same amount. Not at all! And he did indeed put the Clan first... on his to-betray-list!_ Driftcloud's gray and white fur began to rise along his spine.

"He died in the most honorable way, in battle." Flarestar dipped her head, touching her muzzle softly to the slumped brown body in front of her.

 _Against his own Clan!_ He screeched silently.

Flarestar's POV

"He will be missed by many." She pulled her muzzle away from Wildfire's corpse.

 _Oh, Wildfire._ She thought, feeling her heart bleed out onto the body in front of her.

"He touched the hearts of every cat he met." Flarestar felt her vibrant amber eyes begin to sting. "He left marks that will never be forgotten."

She caught the blazing blue eye of one of her youngest warriors, Driftcloud. _Oh, Driftcloud, don't you know it was an accident? Wildfire never meant to hurt Ravenshade. It wasn't his fault._

"He will never fade from our memories." She finished, her tail slumping to the floor.

"For all the wrong reasons!" Driftcloud jumped to his paws from the back of the crowd.

The Clan murmured, unsure of what he meant.

"Driftcloud, I know that you miss Ravensha-" She was cut off as Driftcloud shoved his way through the gathered cats.

"Don't! Don't you dare say his name!" His mew shook with pain. "You didn't deserve to know him."

"Driftcloud."

"No. No! Wildfire killed him! That battle never should have happened!" Driftcloud's eyes were pools of hurt and unresolved anger. "He faked the rabbit bones! He was conspiring with RiverClan!"

"Driftcloud! You will not dishonour his memory!" Flarestar declared with a snarl, springing to her paws.

Shaking with anger, Driftcloud stepped forward until he was nose to nose with Flarestar.

"I've been silent, loyal, and obedient, but no more!" Driftcloud growled, his eyes sparking. "The truth must come out! Flarestar, Wildfire was a traitor!"

"He was not!" Flarestar raised an unsheathed paw, about to strike him.

"Claw me! I'll never stop until the Clan knows!" Driftcloud sounded like he was on the verge of madness.

"Driftcloud, stop!" Flarestar shrieked, flattening her ears as though she didn't want to hear what he was about to reveal.

"Wildfire was a traitor!"

"No!" Flarestar called, pain splitting her words.

"He cared not for his Clan, only for others' destruction and pain!" Driftcloud's eyes rolled back into his eyes, but the words continued to spill from his mouth. "He killed Ravenshade!"

"It was an accident!" Flarestar hissed weakly.

"NO!" Driftcloud looked consumed by his rage. "It was no accident. It was a cold and calculated move, meant to unbalance me! Well, you got your wish, Wildfire! Are you happy now?"

He began purring madly. Flarestar stepped back, fur bushing out.

"Driftcloud, stop!" She called fruitlessly, her eyes betraying her panic at the actions of what had previously seemed to be a talented young warrior with a bright future.

Driftcloud's POV

The Clan formed a tight circle around Flarestar, protecting her from Driftcloud.

"Driftcloud, I think it's time you left." Palefang hissed from next to Flarestar.

"You can't live in a Clan." Pearwing nodded, looking upset.

"Leave! Leave!" The Clan chorused, Flarestar in the centre of them all, spitting and hissing.

"I'll leave." Driftcloud's eyes focused, his vision sharpening. "But I will return."

"Driftcloud..." Flarestar trailed off, looking confused.

"I know you loved him. It made you blind, weak." He hissed, nodding to the still, forgotten corpse in the clearing. "But I'll learn from your mistakes, and I will never love again."

"But how can you say love makes you weak, when your love for Ravenshade..." Flarestar whispered.

"Don't say his name!" Driftcloud spat, before stalking out of the clearing, feeling the mistrusting eyes of who had been his Clanmates, friends, and life for his whole existence, follow him.

 **Well, that was really dramatic. I guess I just like ending things that don't get much time in the spotlight really fantastically. So who do you believe? Flarestar or Driftcloud? Do you think she lied? Do you think she knew she was lying?** **It is called Liar, after all...** **  
~Pondfrost**


	11. Trouble

**Yet another challenge!**

 **This one's called** **'T** **rouble** **'** **!** **A young warrior tom from a certain Clan seems to bring bad luck to everything he's involved in. On patrols, he always trips up, and when he tries to help, he ends up doing the opposite. But when he finds love, he's scared to tell her how he feels, because he knows that it might end badly.**

 **Sorry if it's hard to read, but LibreOffice is confusing me and I'm not sure how to unstrike it... Anyway, onto the challenge!**

Trouble.

"Hey, Shrewnose, do you need help catching that rabbit?" Jumpheart asked loudly, staring at his Clanmate as he carefully stalked a plump hare.

Shrewnose didn't deem it necessary to reply, simply choosing to glare at his Clanmate.

"What? Oh." Jumpheart looked down at where the rabbit had been heart-beats before. "Sorry."

"Jumpheart." Shrewnose began through gritted teeth. "Why don't you go collect some sheep wool for the elders and let the other cats catch something?"

Shrewnose was, in fact, one of the cats in WindClan that was most patient with Jumpheart, but even he had to draw the line somewhere.

"But- but that's an apprentice duty!" Jumpheart cried.

"Then go tell Featherpaw to do it, and leave me in peace." Shrewnose turned away, and streaked across the moorland.

"Okay!" He called after his Clanmate.

He slunk back off to camp, tail hanging behind him sadly.

"Featherpaw!" He called, his voice cracking a little.

"Yes?" She appeared next to almost instantly, causing him to jump.

"Sorry, sorry!" He apologized quickly to Umberclaw, who he had almost crushed in surprise.

"Well, what is it, Jumpheart?" Featherpaw stared at him expectantly.

"I- uh- could you go collect some sheep wool for the elders?" He asked, it becoming more of a question than an order.

"Sure!" Featherpaw scurried away.

"You know, it's about time you had your own apprentice." A soft mew came from behind him. "You're good with young cats."

"Really?" He spun around so fast his plumy gray tail smacked her across the muzzle. "Sorry!"

"It's fine." Greengorse reassured him gently. "You're so kind to Featherpaw."

"You think?" Jumpheart's chest puffed out at the compliment. "I guess I am!"

Greengorse didn't reply. Her bright green eyes sparkled with an untold joke.

"Well, I better go. Work to be done, hunting for the Clan and... all... that..." He trailed off, silenced by her soft brown tail across his muzzle.

"Stay." Her green eyes burned with a strange emotion. "I hardly know you, and yet we live in the same Clan..."

"Yeah, yeah that's true." He stuttered.

"I want to know more about you..." She settled next to him, pressing her pelt to his. "What's it like in Jumpheart's mind? What makes you run?"

"Oh, uh, I guess I've never really thought about it..." He shrugged, his eyes glued to hers.

"Really? I bet I can guess." Her eyes tilted upwards as she thought. "Love! I bet love keeps you going! To be honest, love keeps everyone going. That, or you're living life wrong."

"Yeah!" He didn't even fully register all her words, just wanted to keep her talking, her sweet voice in his ear.

"Jumpheart." She whispered, twining her tail with his.

"Green... gorse..." He mumbled, staring into her green eyes.

"I need to tell you something." She ducked her head. "I love you, Jumpheart."

"I... I..." His eyes widened.

 _Tell her you love her too!_ One half of his mind yowled. The rest was screaming: _You ruin everything! If you tell her, you'll ruin her too!_

"I have to go!" He blurted, running like a coward.

"Okay." Greengorse murmured.

 _What have I done? What's going on? She loves me? But I love her! How could she know? How do I tell her?!_ He gasped in a breath, trying to sort his thoughts and make sense of his life. _I have to tell her. Even if it ruins her life. I can't just ignore my heart! It could be my chance to finally be happy!_

He nodded to himself, fixing his gaze on something in the distance, before charging off, back towards the WindClan camp.

"Greengorse!" He yowled, scanning the camp for her.

"Yes?" She appeared next to him, breaking away from a group of cats that disliked Jumpheart the most. "What is it... my beloved?"

His breath caught in his throat at her tone, but he pressed on.

"I... Greengorse, I love you!" He blurted, then stepped forwards to press his pelt to hers.

"HA!" She yowled, a malicious glint in her eye. "I got you! Great StarClan, that was easy. You really are the most desperate tom in all the Clans, aren't you!"

"Wh- what?" He stuttered, leaning forwards with wide eyes. "What do you mean? You don't... huh?"

"Not only desperate, but dumb as a rock, too!" Greengorse crowed, glancing at the group of warriors she had been sitting with earlier. "I. Don't. Love. You."

She leaned forward a little more with each word, until they were nose to nose.

"But... but you said..." Jumpheart blubbered. "I thought you-"

"You thought wrong!" Greengorse jibed, flanked by the rest of her little group. "I'm not your mate! Never will be! You're just the bumbling warrior who can't do anything right!"

"She's _my_ mate." Sniffed Timbershade, twining his tail with Greengorse's. "Why would she want to be with you?"  
"But..." Jumpheart tried and failed to keep the hurt out of his voice.

"Get lost." One of the more aggressive cats in the Clan stepped forward, growling.

"Wait..." Jumpheart backed up, only to bump into Nightbreeze, who had slipped behind him.

"Leave!" He hissed, his eyes burning hatefully into Jumpheart's.

"Let's talk about this..." Jumpheart whispered fearfully, on the verge of abandoning the whole situation and running for his life.

"Let's not." Hissed Sweetfern, raising an unsheathed claw menacingly.

"No!" He screeched, spinning around and began to run.

"Don't let him escape!" Greengorse yowled.

Pure panic began to overrun him as the thumping of their paws advanced on him.

"Please!" He howled, trying to speed up.

Suddenly, the world went tumbling, up then down then up then down. He had tripped on a stone.

He squealed in pain as his head smashed against a stone protruding out of the moorland.

The world went black.

 **Pretty much up to you if he's dead or not. I know this challenge was about love and not the purge in cat form, but hey, creative liberty, right?**

 **~Pondfrost**


	12. The Lives I've Lost

**A wild challenge was spotted!**

 **A leader on their deathbed thinks back to all the lives they've lost, starting with their first, and finally, their last.**

The Lives I've Lost.

 _I dedicated my life to helping others, and yet here I lie, alone, as I die._ Nettlestar thought sadly. _The middle of the night, and nobody here to help me. It's good that Pearstem isn't here, or she'd be fussing over me more. My own medicine cat, and she can't even tell that I'm beyond saving. This green-cough won't give up its attack until I'm gone from this world._

 _I've died eight times, I don't see why this one should be too different. Except that this will be the last time, and then I'll see Heronbreeze again. That was the first time, wasn't it? **My life of love**. _

_I was given it by my_ _grand_ _mother, and gave it to save my mate._ Nettlestar sighed. _But by then it was too late. Those rogues were vicious, unrelenting, and in the end, we're lucky we didn't lose more. But to me, that was just the beginning. No cat but a leader can understand the burden of having nine lives. Yes, you are protected from true death eight times, and yet it doesn't hurt any less. And each time, when the darkness closes in, sometimes with the gentility of the first snowflake of leaf-bare, sometimes with the ferocity of a badger, I always panic. There's that worry of '_ Will StarClan's gift fail? Will I truly come back, or is this the end for me?'

His thoughts broke off as a bout of coughing wracked his frail body.

 _What came next? Oh yes,_ ** _my life of honor_** _. How fitting that it was lost protecting my Clan from the intruders. Those ShadowClan scumbags never saw it coming._ He purred softly, thinking of how pitifully insignificant the border skirmish seemed now. _What a waste. But I would do it all over again in an instant. The Clan always comes first._

 _It makes me feel weak, thinking of all my lost battles piled up against one another. But when I ruled ThunderClan, we were the strongest by the lake. No Clan could challenge us._ Nettlestar closed his eyes, stiffening against the pain in his body. _Then the life he gave me. My brother, my best friend. Oh, how I was sad to see that one go..._ ** _my life of justice_** _. I knew the moment it was ripped from me, by that lying traitor, that it was my life of justice._ _My Clan struck him down, to avenge me. Sloeclaw, you will never triumph against the force of light and justice that is ThunderClan!_

 _Next came_ ** _my_ _life_ _of appreciation_** _. Appreciation for the skills of the tiniest kit, to the most brazen efforts of a seasoned warrior, to the pure effort of a medicine cat. Pearstem tried her best, but she was but an apprentice, and could not same me from the dark green-cough that claimed me. I will never forget to appreciate, appreciate all the beauty in the world, even in the darkest of storms._ His thoughts were broken by a harsh cough that seemed to sap at his very life energy. _Then,_ ** _my life of honesty_** _. Honesty, to be true to yourself, to accept others for who they are, and to tell the truth when it pains us most. Kestrelcall gave me that one. Up until the very end, she was honest. She told me what I did wrong immediately, but no cat could have ever questioned her loyalty. It helped me greatly when I had to tell the leaders at the Gathering that one of my warriors was disloyal. Even when they attacked the next day, I was true to myself and helped them see the light._

 _After that was_ ** _my life of forgiveness_** _. At the time, I was furious that Graybreeze had come to give me a life, after she played my heart so cruelly. I had to let it go, that I may move on and forget._ He unsheathed his claws weakly, letting them sink into the soft mossy nest under his paws. _Forgiveness. I had to use that life to make them understand. I had to forgive and forget, even as the other Clans stole prey out from under ThunderClan. They needed it more. Our Clan had very few litters of kits in those seasons, but the others had many more mouthes to feed._ _Even as my Clan doubted me, as the leaders scorned me behind my back, I stood strong. That is, until they attacked, thinking me weak and ready to give up any prey or territory to avoid blood shed. They were wrong, but I forgave them. They took that life from me, but I will never forget the lesson it taught._

 _Thinking of my long life makes me feel old... it's a strange thing, having nine lives. You aren't reborn each time, your life is simply prolonged. Eight times..._ Nettlestar's head dropped into his nest, darkness clouding his vision like a swarm of bees. _The life after my life of forgiveness... was... **my life of patience**. _ He closed his eyes, remembering the soothing peace that had touched his pelt ever so gently, as though he was floating through a cloud. _Harestep was the one who gave me that... my life of patience. Of all the lives, I probably needed it the most. When I was made leader, as Flystar fell in front of me, I heard my Clanmates' whispers. 'He's young, foolish, and hot-headed. He will lead our Clan into unnecessary battles.' I proved them all wrong._ Nettlestar purred rustily. _But only with Harestep's help. She might have come from WindClan, but she was a loyal warrior, right until her bitter end. What more honorable way to die, but in battle? The answer is simple. Fighting sickness, looking for herbs, prey, and a chance at another day. No cat knew she was sick until we found her body, slumped next to a hidden and unknown source of catmint. She saved us. Fitting that her life that she gave me was taken from me by the very plight she saved her Clan from._

 _Then was **my life of compassion**... _ Nettlestar sniffed, memories dragging his pelt into his nest. _Perhaps I remember their starry pelts so clearly because of how close I am to joining them... but I still won't see Lightfur there. My mother... she gave up her life for my father, and then again for me. No cat knew she could die again... but I will never forget the sense of pure hopelessness and despair that accompanied knowing that I would never see her again. Ever._

 _But I must hold onto all the cats I will see again... no, I'm going to see soon... now, I can see... them all... they've come._ Nettlestar sighed, dipping his head respectfully to the starry cats filing into his den. _Goodbye, sweet ThunderClan. Milkheart will lead you well._

 _Farewell._

 **Aw, Nettlestar! . I was getting attached to you! Anyway, we're done here. Onto pretending I'm beating procrastination.** **Oh for ****'s sake, after counting the number of lives no less than ten times, I realized I'd accidentally,** _ **somehow,**_ **given him 9 lives, and he still had one to go. ARAGAAGH. Okay, I fixed it.**

 **~Pondfrost**


	13. Curse for us all

**LAST ONE TO WARRIOR STATUS! WOOP WOOP!  
I think, anyway. As the previous challenge demonstrated, I'm not great at counting. . I'm sorry!  
Okay, this one's 'Curse for us all'! I can't wait to start! I'm going to do... 14 apprentices. We'll see how I handle this. _Edit: Oh, but you can't, past Pondfrost. At least not very well. We're going to try this again, but with 6 apprentices instead._**

 **Some apprentices were playing a game, while they broke into a fight. At the end of the fight, one of the apprentices said a curse. Other apprentices thought he or she was just joking, but it turned into real things happening on the apprentices. How can they solve this?**

 **Let's get this monster moving!**

 **Quick warning, there'll be some... gruesomeness...**

Curse for us all.

Vinestep's POV

 _What are they_ doing _?!_ Vinestep, a senior warrior of ShadowClan, demanded silently, watching the mouse-brained scene unfold in front of him. _I know we have too many apprentices, but I thought that Flipclaw would be able to handle_ _the pesky_ _bunch_ _for one day_ _! I guess not, considering th_ _ey're Willowpaw_ _and Branchpaw. They're a pawful! Then again,_ _Foxpaw_ _isn't exactly StarClan's gift to the Clans, either._ _He_ _seems like he's everywhere at once!_ _And Applepaw and Berrypaw are absolutely uncontrollable! A_ _t least my kits,_ _Perchpaw and Swallowpaw, are growing into fine warriors, if little lacking in courage..._

"Ha!" Willowpaw shrieked, pinning her brother, Branchpaw, to the pine-needle littered floor of the forest, only to be tackled a moment later by Foxpaw. "Oof! Foxpaw, get off!"

"I'm the leader of this Clan, Willowcoward! Leave, before I-" Foxpaw was cut off as Applepaw launched herself at him.

"Who's leader now?" She snorted.

"Me!" Yowled Branchpaw, springing towards her, matching Berrypaw pawstep for pawstep.

"I'll be your loyal deputy, Berry... Berry... Berrytail! Don't worry, Applestar! I'll save you from this traitor!" He squeaked, admiration shining from his bright amber eyes for which he had been named.

"Sure." Applepaw rolled her eyes, forgetting the fight for a moment.

"Letting your guard down!" Perchpaw, the newest apprentice along with her brother Swallowpaw, yowled. "That's the first mistake you made!"

"Really?" Applepaw rounded on her, hissing in mock ferocity, fluffing up her tiny russet pelt. "One more word out of your flea-ridden mouth and I'll-"

"You'll what?" Foxpaw taunted, his high-pitched voice grating on Vinestep's ears. "Go running back to the nursery?"  
"Yeah!" Willowpaw added dumbly. "You'll... you'll... what?"

"Ha!" Branchpaw threw his head back and purred. "Mouse-brain!"  
"Fox-heart!" She retorted, wrapping her tail around Berrypaw's neck and tugging. "Come on, deputy, let's go!"

"Yeah!" Berrypaw squeaked, charging at them.

They attacked together, batting at the other apprentices with barely sheathed claws.

 _Mouse-brains!_ Vinestep bit back a hiss of fury. _They could get seriously hurt!_

The clearing exploded in shrieking young cats. Foxpaw charged Willowpaw, Applepaw tackled Branchpaw, and they all tussled in a yowling knot of apprentices.

"Hey... g-guys, don't you think we should..." Swallowpaw choked, his pale blue eyes looking absolutely terrified to be talking to the other apprentices.

 _Yes! I knew I could count on my son!_ Vinestep felt a stab of pride for his soft-spoken son. _You tell them, Swallowpaw!_

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" Foxpaw, the biggest apprentice of the group, a long-furred orange tom with white patches, stepped forwards menacingly. "Is there something you have to say?"  
 _No!_ Vinestep felt a tiny prickle of fear as he watched the bigger cat advance on his puny son. _I have to go get Lilystar!_

He charged away into the sparse undergrowth of ShadowClan territory, not hearing the last words his _pathetic little son_ uttered.

"Don't... don't come any closer, or you'll all die a horrible, brutal death!" He squealed.

Foxpaw stepped forwards.

 _Timeskip, brought to you by extreme laziness_

Quackle Waffle's(Just... don't ask) POV

"We're warriors!" Foxclaw yowled to no one in particular.

"Never thought the day would come." Willowstorm remarked coolly, flexing her claws.

"Not after what happened when we were apprentices." Branchfall agreed.

"Oh, come over, that was like, a _lifetime_ ago." Foxclaw yawned. "We've all matured and whatnot."

" _Some_ of us." Willowstorm snorted, glancing at Appleberry. "Can't she get over Berrypaw? Just because he was hit by a monster doesn't mean we all have to whine about it for the rest of our lives."

"Naming herself after him?" Branchfall added. "Seems like a pretty drastic thing to do."

"At least she got a nice name." Foxclaw sniffed.

"Oh, come on. Foxclaw isn't bad." Willowstorm rolled her eyes at him. "Better than Perchface."

"My name isn't weird!" Perchthroat defended herself. "And it's Perch _throat,_ thank you very much."

"Much worse." Branchfall snickered to Foxclaw.

"I _like_ my name." Willowstorm glanced admiringly down at her own fluffy gray fur, as though she could see her own identity through her fur.

"Me too." Branchfall offered.

"Swallowpaw should be here." Perchthroat mumbled.

The others fell silent for a moment.

"Yes." Foxclaw whispered solemnly. "He should. So we can tease him about his name!"

"Shut up, fox-heart!" Perchthroat snarled. "Don't talk about my brother like that! Swallowpaw was twice the cat you are!"

"Riiiight, that's why he vanished in the middle of a battle and we never saw him again." Foxclaw scorned. "The Clan should be glad he's gone. At least Berrypaw had potential."

"Yeah, potential to be Appleberry's mate." Willowstorm rolled her eyes. "He was hopeless, let's face it."  
"Well, after that fight as apprentices, I was sure we were going to be kicked out." Branchfall declared.

"Oh come on, we might have misbehaved, but not enough to get _kicked out_. Plus, six apprentices gone?" Foxclaw rolled his eyes. "The Clan would have had to wait for Blueleaf's kits to be apprenticed for new warriors."

"Holding us back and keeping us apprentices for an extra _six moons_ was enough." Branchfall stated grimly.

They all glanced upwards abruptly as shade fell across the camp. Thick, roiling black stormclouds rolled in front of the sun, looking like the paws of a monster, eating up every bit of light in their path until all of ShadowClan territory had been shrouded in darkness.

"Every cat get into the dens!" Yellowfeather's mew echoed around the clearing, fighting to be heard over the rumbling thunder that was rapidly nearing them.

"Wait! She's not here!" He called, terrified, searching the camp for her face. "I think she went out hunting!"

"It might be too late already." The Clan's deputy mewed solemnly. "You need to focus on keeping yourself safe."

"What?" He searched the eyes of the surrounding cats, but he could barely make out their eyes, much less a tiny spark of sympathy. "She could die!"

"He's right! If there's even a chance..." He strained to see the owner of the voice to thank them, but all he could make out were their glittering, pale blue eyes.

"Thank you!" He shouted. "I have to try!"

"Listen-" Yellowfeather began, but stopped as he charged off into the forest.

"If- they- won't look for her- I will." He panted to himself.

He looked up, narrowing his eyes against the rain that poured down unrelentlessly. He could almost make out a sodden, slumped gray form several fox-lengths away, but...

Suddenly, he heard a loud _crack_ as a huge branch broke off of a pine tree. Branchfall's eyes slid upwards to stare wide-eyed as it dropped down towards him.

"No!" He screamed. "Willowstorm!"

 _Timeskip_

As days turned into moons, and moons turned into seasons, the cats that remained of the group apprentices died one by one. Perchthroat choked to death on a fish, which had caused the pale blue-eyed cat who had caught it to recieve praise beyond anything else that had been caught all day, that is, until it killed Perchthroat.

Appleberry's death was more mysterious. The medicine cat determined the cause of her death to be from eating death berries, but no cat understood why. Her paws were stained with red juices, and her mouth lolled open, white teeth dripping with unchewed berries. Her body was slumped next to a bush covered in them, and it was quite easy to see what had happened, but no cat knew of the strange cat she'd seen who had told her not to eat them.

Of course, that had piqued her curiousity, and she helped herself to several.

Soon, the only cat that remained of the entire group of apprentices was Foxclaw, who lived his days in constant terror.

"No! No... please..." He murmured, fast asleep. "I'm sorry! Swallowpaw, I'm sorry!"

"It's too late." His dream enemy hissed, unsheathing his claws.

"Please!" He choked.

"Farewell, Foxclaw." Swallowpaw began to fade, until only his pale blue eyes remained.

"Please!" He shrieked again, but the dream was gone.

"Fox!" A far off cry sounded in his ears, and he snapped awake. "Fox in the camp!"

 _No._ His heart sped up. _This is where he gets me. Swallowpaw, you win._

"Every cat run!" Mousestar shouted, quickly ordering his deputy to evacuate the camp.

"Good-bye." Foxclaw whispered. "I'm sorry."

 _So am I._ A tiny, pathetic voice hissed in his head. _Good-bye, Foxclaw._

 _"_ _Please!_ " He shouted, in a last, fruitless attempt to stop what he knew was rapidly becoming inevitable.

The fox burst into the den, cornering Foxclaw in the back of the warrior's den. Its lips were drawn back to reveal gleaming white fangs, ready to sink them into his soft, yielding skin.

" _PLEASE!_ " He howled again.

"Good-bye, Foxclaw." A strange form appeared in the entrance of the den, barely visible behind the bulk of the fox.

"Sw- Swallowpaw?" His whisper was deathly quiet.

"It's me." The pale-blue eyed figure said simply.

"Are... are you going to kill me?" Foxclaw whimpered, abandoning his contumelious demeanor and pleading for his life.

"Oh no." Swallowpaw shook his head in mock benevolence. "Why would I do that, when I could have this fox kill you instead?"

Foxclaw's sigh of relief was abruptly cut short by a sharp cry of pain and shock as the fox lunged forwards, slashing its claws hard across Foxclaw's face.

His head whipped backwards from the force of the attack. If he survived, he would be blinded and unable to scent anything but blood from that day forth.

"Was it..." The sheer force of the pain that accompanied the simplest and shortest words almost stopped his thoughts right then and there, but he soldiered on, telling himself the pain would stop once he got to StarClan. "Was it worth it?"

"Every. Last. Moment." Swallowpaw mewed contemptuously, watching as Foxclaw was thrown against the wall of the den like a piece of prey by the fox. "Good-bye, Foxclaw."

Sucking in a breath through his teeth, Foxclaw tried to fight back against the fox, attempting to leap onto its back, but it was too late for him. As the fox lunged again to sink its fangs into his neck and stop his heart, he managed to speak.

"My Clanmates... will avenge me... or the fox will get you..." He whimpered, trying to stop the pain that blinded his thoughts and emotions.

"But it will be worth it." Swallowpaw's eyes were like chips of ice. "You will be dead."

 **And that's it!** **Much better than before. I like how the final scene with fox actually turned out, and the other characters made more sense this time.**

 **Pondfrost**


	14. What Will Become of Me?

**Yes. Yes I am writing this before it technically is an official challenge.**

 **And yes, I know I'm technically going to be a warrior as soon as I've reached the one month mark, but I still _really_ want to write this challenge. Shout out to Lightningstrike's fantanstical imagination for all the crazy inspiration it's giving me.**

 **SO THIS ONE'S called 'What will become of me?'**

 ** **A cat is dying, but they weren't all good during their life; In fact, they have not been deemed worthy of joining StarClan. However, they were good at heart, so they have not been sent to the Dark Forest either.****

What will become of me?.

Aspenbreeze writhed in pain and anger as the badger planted a thickly furred foot on his chest. It leaned down towards his face, its hot, rank breath blasting his head fur.

He cursed as the badger opened its mouth wide, about to snap its jaws shut on his neck.

"Someone!" He yelled, trying to attract attention from one of the few Clanmates of his that might actually try to save him. The rest would be too cowardly, or simply wouldn't care.

For once, he regretted some of the things he had done. If this was where he died, where his life ended, he might not even get to StarClan. He shivered slightly under the badger's claws, remembering the nightmares he had had about the dark forest after the gruesome tales the elders had told him.

"Please, _somebody_!" He screamed fruitlessly once more, as the badger's head whipped forwards and its horrifyingly large fangs sank into his neck.

His body barely registered the intensely excruciating blaze of pain in his neck before the whole world disappeared.

He blinked open his eyes, unsure of where he was.

"Hello?" He scanned his surroundings, trying to figure out what was happening. "StarClan? Or... the dark forest?"

The only thing his eyes could see was a pale light, surrounding him and ensconsing him. It was neither welcoming nor hostile, simply... there.

"Hello?!" He called again, panic sinking into his chest.

 _Is this where I'll be for the rest of eternity?_ He thought, shock, anger, and remorse slicing into his soul. _Please no!_

"You take him!" He could barely make out the faint, saccharine voice in the distance.

"We don't want him! You take him!" Another voice, the complete opposite of the first, grating and dark. "Aren't you supposed to be all-accepting and loving?"

"Why do you think we banished you?" The first one demanded, steadily growing nearer.

The second one was silent, but Aspenbreeze could feel the hostility radiating from them, whoever they were.

"Well, we have to decide!" The first one was now visible, a small, lithe tortoise-shell, accompanied by another tortoise-shell, but thickly battle-scarred and broad-shouldered.

"There he is, the cat himself." The bigger tortoise-shell sneered. "Too good for the dark forest."

"And too bad for StarClan." The small one frowned, eyeing him with uncertainty. "What do we do with you?"  
"There... there must be some kind of mistake!" He hissed desperately, his eyes darting from one cat to the other.

"Aspenbreeze, is it?" The battle-scarred one jeered, malice gleaming in her amber eyes. "Oh no, not a mistake at all. Not like yourself."

"Hush, Mapleshade." The smaller one shot a quelling look at her. "Listen, Aspenbreeze, you... you haven't exactly..."

"Been good! I know! But Ashfur was accepted in, and-" Aspenbreeze broke off, shocked by the anger in the first cat's eyes.

"Ashfur was in love. He had an excuse." She growled, suddenly looking just as menacing as the bigger one. "What's your's? For your life-time of insolence, 'forgetfulness', damage, and straight up disloyalty?"  
"He didn't even kill a single cat." Mapleshade looked bored, flicking her blood-stained claws out to inspect them. "He's far too soft for the dark forest. They'd eat him alive. Come on, Spottedleaf, look at the pathetic creature."

He rounded his eyes in innocence. The familiar routine of claiming he had no liability or guilt came easily to him, and he ducked his head, feigning weakness and vulnerability.

"You've had far too much practice." Spottedleaf's eyes were cold. "I won't allow him into StarClan unless he can prove that he can change. He's slipperier than a snake, and he would tarnish the integrity of-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Mapleshade rolled her eyes. "He would make us so much less feared."

The she-cats squared off against each other, almost forgetting Aspenbreeze. He thought about trying to slip away unnoticed, but they quickly directed their attention back to him.

"It's decided then." Spottedleaf sat down, wrapping her tail neatly over her paws. "A challenge. To prove yourself worthy of entering StarClan. If you fail, the dark forest will be happy to accept you. Isn't that right, _Mapleshade_?"

The lithe tortoise-shell shot a scathing look at her companion.

"Of course." Mapleshade dipped her head, her words silky.

"Your challenge will be to..." Spottedleaf paused, her eyes darkening. "Kill me."

" _What?!_ " Aspenbreeze's eyes widened with shock and his mouth dropped open. " _Kill_ you?"

Mapleshade rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of dark amusement in the twitch of her whiskers.

"Kill me." Spottedleaf repeated.

"You can't _actually_ kill her." Mapleshade growled. "It's a test."

"It will still hurt!" Spottedleaf rounded on Mapleshade. "Don't pass it off like it's nothing!"

"It isn't, to me." Mapleshade snorted, but subsided into muttering on the sidelines.

Spottedleaf turned back to a dumbfounded Aspenbreeze.

"Well, whenever you're ready." She gritted her teeth, as though expecting him to leap onto her immediately.

"B- but, except you're, how could-" Aspenbreeze spluttered.

"Oh, for Tigerstar's sake." Mapleshade muttered, glaring at him.

Spottedleaf simply held eye-contact silently. Her teeth were still tightly clenched together as Aspenbreeze dithered.

"I d- don't want to- but the test- killing is evil, I don't-" He continued, flashing his paws through the air with increasing frenzy.

"Just do it!" Mapleshade finally exploded, slipping behind him and giving him a hard shove towards the lithe medicine cat.

"I can't!" Aspenbreeze squawked. "To succeed the test, I have to kill her! Succeeding the test means getting into StarClan! But I can't kill a cat! That would mean... _murder_! And murderers belong in the Dark Forest! But if I don't murder, I'll be put with the murderers, and then-"

"Shut _up_!" Mapleshade yowled, digging her claws into the faded light beneath her toes, her ears flat.

"Succeed." Spottedleaf pressed, her amber eyes intense. "Please! Join me in StarClan!"

His head began to whip from side to side, his eyes tightly shut and his ears flat. His front paws backed up, but his back paws stayed frozen to the ground. Mapleshade let out a faint _mrow_ of amusement as Aspenbreeze's fit continued.

"Aspenbreeze!" Spottedleaf shrieked, her eyes wide with panic. "Aspenbreeze, no!"

"Oh yes." Mapleshade's eyes glinted cruelly, and she raised one paw, letting her claws extend slowly and glint in the pale light. "I love it when they go mad!"

"B- but why?" Aspenbreeze managed to get out through the foam coating his lips.

"Because then..." Mapleshade advanced on the twitching tom. "Then... I get to do this!"

Her paw flashed down, neatly slicing open Aspenbreeze's neck.

He gurgled, but no intelligible words made it out before his twitching subsided and he lay still. His body was bathed in the pale light, slumped in a land long forgotten.

"Well, that was fun." Mapleshade sighed, turning around and beginning to make her way back to the putrid forest that served as her home.

"Aspenbreeze..." Spottedleaf murmured, a tear glancing off her muzzled and splashing onto Aspenbreeze. It sloshed into the horrible tide of red that had begun to cease gushing out of his neck. "Aspenbreeze!"

 ** **The... END. Well, a tad rushed and a few info-dumps that couldn't be worked around, but it's gucci, it's gucci. I have to say, I don't think I'll have to rewrite this one to the extent that I had to do for Curse for Us All... that's something, right? Well, anyway...****

 ** **~Pondfrost****


	15. 100 Word Drabble

I raised my head, closing my crystal blue eyes, and inhaled a deep scent of the sweet forest air. The breeze brought warnings and promises, of foxes that had passed this way long ago, of a robin that had passed very recently, and of a dog that had come with its two-leg owners a long time ago, judging by the stale scent.

I ignored the dog and fox scents, instead focusing every fiber of my body on the robin. It was above me, in the tree. I escalated the tree quickly, and pounced on the robin. My first prey ever.

 **Ugh, writing super short stuff annoys me, but there's your 100 word drabble.**


	16. BurnDrownFreeze

I never wanted to be here.

Then again, no cat does, do they?

Who would want a fate like this, so hateful and dark?

It's so dark. I can barely make out the slithering, hunched shadows in the dark. The only thing I know I'll always see are the eyes. Glimmering, green, gold, amber, blue, yellow, it doesn't matter. They all burn. Burn with hatred.

I know that one day my eyes will burn like that.

The way they used to blaze with passion.

The way they started to flame with revenge.

The river put it out.

Every cat here has a reason. Ambition. Revenge. Loneliness. Hatred.

They're all blazing fires, enormous infernos, the only light is this black, black place.

It's no place for a pile of ashes like me.

My heart, once a fire, is now nothing...

Put out. Worn out.

Torn out.

Not even a glowing coal.

I wonder if my kits made it to StarClan. Of course; why wouldn't they? They're too young to have done such a heinous crime as loving some cat and then being heartbroken when they reject you after your kits died for reasons that weren't your fault.

StarClan might be worshipped, but they are cruel.

The one comfort of dying was that I would finally be with my kits again.

Appledusk might be a liar, a cheater, and a cat whose throat I would love to tear out given the chance, but my kits were my family. My blood. I love them.

That's why StarClan couldn't let me join their 'angelic rank'.

Not because I was awful and evil. Not because I broke their laws and killed two cats. Because the cruelest punishment of all was tearing my kits away from me. What better way to punish a cat for loving?

~o0o~

I can't stand being here.

I'm drowning again, in the need to see her face one more time.

I don't care who I have hurt; who I have to kill.

Just let me see my precious flame. She was everything.

My world. My heart. My life.

StarClan is cruel.

Many would see it as a blessing, what they gave in return for what I tried to do. What I was ready to do; what I would do a hundred times over for it to work.

It's no blessing.

It was a cold and calculated move, to keep me from the fire.

Keep me from her.

Keep me from revenge.

If I'm allowed into the darkness, if I'm allowed to go unchecked, my revenge festering in the shadows uncontrolled…

I would bring fire down on them all. I would show them power.

But no.

Instead, I am locked into a shimmering, gilded cage of suppressant for those feelings.

Those temptations.

I don't know how.

But I know why.

They aren't fools.

They know what I could do.

What I try to do.

What I'm ready to do.

So they suppress me. They keep those feelings under careful lock and key. They make sure my fire doesn't escape. Doesn't begin to catch. Doesn't destroy this prismatic prison.

Doesn't go wild.

It would be so satisfying. To force the fire out of my mind and onto them. Burn them all.

But I can't.

Not with the water keeping me down. Pressing me away from the surface. From revenge. From release. From the fire.

They push their water of forgiveness down my throat. But I don't swallow. I won't. My revenge is what keeps me alive. But I'm dead already, right? I know well what happens when you don't drink the water.

You drown.

~o0o~

I don't know why I'm here.

This is no place for some cat like me.

I don't even know where this place is.

There's no other cats here.

I need others. Any cat who's ever met me will tell you the opposite, that as far as they know, I would have them all die without blinking an icy eye.

Lie.

Ever since that day… the day I realized my siblings were ignorant bullies, that the real enemy lay in the forest, under the guise of a normal warrior with abnormal claws, the day I learned what fear was…

I needed them.

When the blood flowed beneath my claws, the sluggish beat of my heart would begin to restart, to quicken, even.

Defrost.

Their blood moved my blood.

My heart certainly wasn't going to.

But now there's no one.

Silence and ice.

Without others, my heart just gets colder and colder.

Without their blood, mine freezes.

And when my blood freezes, I freeze.

That's one thing they know about me.

Blood is my sustenance.

They all knew, didn't they?

The day I announced our name.

The day I recognized that magical liquid that pounded through my veins as it spilled everywhere, all over the forest floor. The day I exacted my revenge.

And a mere day later, I burned.

Probably the only blaze that wanted to protect the forest, not destroy it.

StarClan is cruel.

I know it. I know _them_. I know they helped him.

Not just that day, when he rose back from infinite slumber, the slumber he never should have woken from…

The day they gave him a best friend.

And the day they gave me a burning desire for revenge.

And now that I've lost the flame, fell to my paws in front of it…

I freeze.


	17. Rainwater

**Hey, Akila here!**

 **[SPOILERS FOR TEOA BELOW (Don't worry though, if you're caught up it's nothing new)]**

 **I know I haven't written any challenges or one-shots in a while, but I was inspired by an idea from a guest reviewer on TEOA, who suggested I write a one-shot for Rainwater.**

 **This one-shot bumps the rating up to a T for implied attempted rape. I wrote a longer disclaimer on Downpour pt 2, but I will say that you shouldn't read it if you think this is unsafe for you at all.**

Rainwater.

 _Not enough_ was a common refrain in his head as a kit.

When he opened his eyes, it was to see his mother's disappointed glance.

When he took his first step, it was after his sister who was leaving again to talk to Slatekit.

When he spoke his first word, it was a quiet, choked off, "Sorry."

The apology was to no one and everyone.

Since it seemed that whatever he didn't wouldn't be enough, the least he could do was apologize. He'd never seen a spark of pride in his mother's eyes. He'd never seen his sister look at him with any sort of litter-mate bond.

So when Thornstar visited the nursery, to see _him_ , it was unbelievable.

It was _him_ that was the most important in that moment.

The leader's golden gaze held him as they left the camp and walked together in ThunderClan's forest. He asked such strange questions, but Rainkit was eager to impress and boasted and lied as much as he wanted.

 _The storms?_

 _Yes, he did it. He was the strongest. Yes, yes, yes._

He puffed up like a storm cloud about to rain under the leader's stare.

And when he returned, the other familiar golden gaze didn't bother him anymore.

Thornstar knew he was special.

The special little tom in the nursery full of nothing-she-cats.

They were nothing, and he was the most important in the world for a few precious, golden moments.

…

When he was apprenticed to his own mother, he felt a strange stab of betrayal. There were unreadable thoughts in the leader's golden eyes. Anger built in him. How would he learn from just another she-cat telling him he wasn't enough?

Thornstar continued to visit him.

His requests got stranger.

Shadefur visited him too.

They took him by the lake.

Told him to focus.

Thornstar cuffed him over the ear when he protested it was impossible.

He shut his mouth.

But no matter how his heart pounded or his mind whirled, he couldn't summon the storm clouds any more than he could force Petalpaw to every show up for training.

He was familiar with anger.

It helped put force behind his blows and the aloof, casual tone in his voice, but this anger was rather different.

This anger didn't come and go in bright, angry red flashes, it built low in his stomach, black and sucking. It didn't go away. It just simmered, hungry.

Two moons into his apprenticeship he was bigger than nearly every cat in the Clan. He knew every fighting move, every tactic, every unspoken rule, and still he knew something was missing.

Other than Thornstar, no cat seemed to give him the time of day, other than another apprentice.

Lightningpaw.

She was outright hostile.

Just the thought of her made his lip curl and something low in his stomach curl up and growl hungrily.

Half of him hated her.

The rest of him… well, he didn't dwell on that too much.

She was so obviously obsessed with him that it made him roll his eyes to even think about it. _Pathetic. How hard does she have to try to get my attention?_

Later in his apprenticeship he finally got the chance to prove himself.

One hundred percent.

And then there he was, doing what no cat had done before.

Passed the test.

The greatest warrior ThunderClan had ever known, and it…

Wasn't…

Enough.

…

Petalpaw was gone.

More anger.

More hate.

It was going to swallow him whole.

His anger lashed out.

Lightningpaw's golden eyes flashed with fury.

 _Good, good._

Get angry.

You deserve it.

I never did anything for the world to hate me this way.

You deserve a life of pain if I got one for no reason.

Perfect, stupid mother.

Perfect, stupid she-cat.

There was a beast inside him that roared and roared, and the sky stayed perfectly clear. He hated every speck of this world.

He wasn't good enough for Thornstar's stupid ideas.

He wasn't good enough for Lightningpaw's stupid attention.

Not enough, not enough.

 _I'll tear everything apart._

…

He deserved her.

She would be the prize at the end of the challenge.

He'd endured enough to get his way this one time.

Why wouldn't she shut up?  
Why wouldn't she nod and smile?

His claws unsheathed.

His muscles trembled.

He was enough. He was enough. He _would_ be enough for her. She _would_ shut up, or he'd make her.

It was storming.

Finally.

It was a sign, he could feel it.

He was enough now.

He knew how to make her shut up.

He'd heard Thornstar enough times. He'd seen Fawnshade's beaten, cold stare.

Lightning storm overhead.

Lightningstorm under him.

Blood rushed through him.

Then an explosion, white, hot, searing, thrown, falling, crunch.

…

Everything was gone except the hot black anger, boiling over inside him.

 _She would shut up._

 _He would get his way._

 _He wasn't enough._

Red flash.

Another she-cat in his way.

In between him and getting his way.

Never enough.

When his throat split open, it was back in his mind.

Another time when he wasn't enough.

Tear him open.

Everything was fading.

Rainwater.

 **~Pondfrost**


	18. Mama, What's Love?

**ARE YOU READY FOR SOME WHOLESOME VIGNETTES BECAUSE I SURE AM.**

Mama, What's Love?

Patchy had never seen Wildwind laugh harder than when he did as Firekit mumbled her first words, big kit-blue eyes staring up at Patchy.

"Mama?"

Shiningsnow had to send her mate out of the nursery because he was disturbing the kits when he repeatedly failed to stop laughing.

"Should I be jealous?" she teased Patchy.

"I have no idea how this happened," he dead-panned, staring blankly at the russet and white she-kit.

Shiningsnow sniffed, mock-hurt. "How dare you. Stealing my kits' affection like this. I'm beyond insulted."

Patchy chuckled and glanced down at Firekit. "Well, I don't have any milk for you, because that's not usually how nature works."

The kit blinked at him hopefully.

"Why don't you take her out into the camp?" Shiningsnow suggested softly to try not to wake Firekit's littermates. "It seems that she cannot get tired, and unfortunately the other three kits need to have their naps now or we'll all feel the wrath of StarClan later. See if walking around for a bit will tire her out."

He cracked a smile. "Sure, but I think it's futile."

"We can't give up hope!" Shiningsnow exclaimed, purring with amusement before waving him off with her feathery white tail.

Ducking his head to let Firekit clamber onto his shoulders, he carried her out of the nursery and into the sunlight filtering through ShadowClan's pines.

"Mama, let's play a game!" Firekit squeaked.

Patchy sighed, regretful. "Sorry fireball, my shoulder's hurting, can't run around with you today."

"No badger rides?" she whimpered.

"How about a story?" he covered quickly, darting a glance around the camp for a suitable tale. "You know, heroic adventures, or forbidden love, or great leaders-"

"Mama, what's love?"

Patchy's step faltered and he swallowed hard. "Love? Why are you asking that, fireball?"

"Well you know, Shiny and Papa are love, right? But what does it mean?"

"You mean they're _in_ love," Patchy corrected, but when Firekit waved it off impatiently, he relented. "Love… is kind of hard to explain."

"You can do it, Mama!" she cheered him on enthusiastically.

"Explain love? I can try," he replied, laughing as she tickled his shoulder blades with her little paws as she adjusted her position, settling in. "Love… love comes in all kind of pelts, and patterns, and scents. When love's just starting in your heart, it sometimes feels like a little butterfly tickling your belly, or a happy little cloud in your heart."

He tickled her with his tail and Firekit shrieked with delight.

"But that kind of love doesn't always last. You know the love's real and true when it starts to burn." Something caught in his throat.

"Like fire?" she squeaked.

"Just like that, fireball," he replied raspily, clearing his throat before he continued. "It's like a hot little coal in your chest that you bring with you wherever you go, full of thoughts about the cat you love."

"Doesn't it hurt?" she demanded.

"Well, sometimes," he acknowledged, clearing his throat again. "Love does hurt sometimes. If the cat you love doesn't feel the same way, or you… lose them."

It was getting harder to swallow.

"I'll always make sure I know where Shiny and Papa and you, Mama, are so I don't lose you," Firekit reassured him self-importantly.

"You do that, fireball," Patchy whispered, and tried to swallow again. "You know, love comes pretty easy sometimes. Your Mama, er, Shiny that is, loved you before she even saw you!"

"Before she even _smelled_ me?" Firekit exclaimed incredulously.

"Even before that," he told her. "Because Shinies and Papas always love their little kittens before they even know them. Before they grow up, or do anything extraordinary at all, they love them more than all the world."

"That's a lot of love!" Firekit exclaimed.

"Love's not something you can run out of if you do it right," Patchy explained quietly. "As long as you put your heart into it, you'll get your heart back, and you'll be stronger than ever. Your little ember will glow all the brighter, the more you love."

"How about a fireball? How much love is in a fireball?" Firekit squeaked.

"More love than you know." The tears finally spilled over and started dripping down his cheeks. "From cats you don't even know."

"How much do you love, Mama?" Firekit questioned.

He swallowed hard. "I lost some of my love. A lot, actually. So many of my embers got lost that I thought I might never love any cat again."

"No love?!" Firekit sounded horrified.

"None at all. But Papa and Shiny helped to show me that there's- there's always more love." He faltered, rising sobs choking off part of his voice. "And one day, I'll get back all of my love in StarClan."

"But what if it's too much love?" She seemed genuinely concerned.

"Oh, no such thing fireball!" Patchy told her, laughing a little and trying not to cry.

"Will I get love too?" she asked nervously.

"You already have some," he told her softly. "Every cat has a little. And your heart will get stronger and stronger until you have enough for every cat around the lake."

"I'm going to love every cat!" she declared.

The words echoed something that another cat had said to Patchy. Something so long ago that he thought he'd forgotten entirely. _If every cat just loved every cat else, we'd all be happy._ Thank StarClan that Firekit wasn't in a world where such an idea would be punished severely.

"You do that, fireball." _Wonder what Shiningsnow'll make of that._

"Hey Mama, why're you sad?" Firekit demanded, her little paw prodding at his cheek.

"I- I'm not, some of the love's just leaking out," he told her, sniffing and shaking his head to clear the tears.

"Well, you should give it to somebody and not let it get away!" she exclaimed.

"I lost the cat I gave my love to," he told her quietly.

Firekit seemed affronted by this. " _Lost_ them? Where did they go?"

"She… she got taken away. But I'll see her again, I know I will. I seem some of her every day," he told her softly, looking out to the horizon. "There's some in you, there's some in your sister, and your brothers, and every cat."

"What was she like?" Firekit questioned, but she cut herself off with an enormous yawn.

"That's a story for another day. Let's get back to your nest."

Patchy felt more hot tears slide down his face as he ducked his shoulders to let Firekit scramble down and tuck herself into her nest.

"Goodnight, Mama."

Patchy walked to the edge of the ShadowClan camp and glanced out into the silent pines.

 _Please StarClan, just spare her from anything close to what happened to… all of them._

His heart ached and he tried to silence his sobs to limited success. Knowing what he'd lost was threatening to rip his heart in two. _But I have something new here, with Shiningsnow and Wildwind, and Firekit._

 _I'll see you on the other side, Kitsune._

 **GODDAMNIT I'M CRYING**

 **~Pondfrost the mushy ball of feelz**


	19. You Can't Know

**Yeah, I'm writing a challenge :P. It's been awhile, I know!**

 **But I have a good idea for this one my dudes.**

You Can't Know.

She glanced down at them, nuzzling at her belly so softly and so innocently.

Taking a pained breath, she lowered her muzzle to the three of them and pushed them away from her until the sudden chill of losing her body heat made them wake.

"Ma- mama? What's going on?" the smallest awoke, rubbing her muzzle with tiny, delicate gray-and-white paws.

"It's okay baby, we're just getting up to- to play a little game," she assured her daughter. The other two seemed to have awoken as well.

"What- I'm cold," her son murmured, rolling over and curling in on himself.

"Come on, up you get," she told the three of them quietly. "Let's go, it's time to- play this game. We're going to leave the camp quickly, okay? Quickly and quietly. A secret mission."

Her other daughter rolled over, batting the air with her paws and yawning. "Do we have to? I'm really tired."

She swallowed and nudged them to their paws, feeling her heart breaking a little as they shook off sleep, ready to trust her completely.

"Alright. A game, right? Quickly and quietly," she repeated, pained. "You go first."

Her son tottered out of the nursery, looking back with worried blue eyes to make sure that she was right behind him. Taking a deep breath, she herded her litter out of the nursery silently.

When they were out of the camp, she finally released the breath she'd been holding. _We'll be alright. They'll be safe once we're there._

Despite telling herself that, it was hard to believe it.

"Come on," she whispered, as much to her kits as to herself. "We're going to go to the RiverClan border, okay?"

"That's far," her smaller daughter yawned. "I'm tired, do we have to?"

"We have to," she told her firmly, swallowing hard. "You'll be alright once we're there."

There was a blizzard brewing. Snow whistled through the trees, the flakes spiralling across the forest with a soft howling noise. She fluffed out her pelt, glancing nervously at her kits and hoping they weren't getting too cold.

"Mummy, can we stop for a minute?" her son asked, whimpering. "I'm really cold."

"No! We can't stop," she said more softly, trying not to scare him. "We just have to keep walking, it'll warm you up. I can let you ride on my back for a few minutes."

"Okay," he mumbled, clambering onto her shoulder blades.

Her two daughters continue to plod through the forest, their steps getting heavier and slower. Looking through the forest, it was getting harder to see the path to take to the border. _Just keep walking,_ she told herself.

"I'm going to give your sister a turn now, okay?" she told her son, bending to let him off.

Instead, he dug his paws in. "No! I'm cold, and I want a ride! I'm too tired to walk! She can walk more, she's fine."

"Stonekit! Your sister has been walking for a while now, let her have a turn," she told him firmly.

"I don't wanna!"

 _Come on, please!_ "I will not be repeating myself. Off, now."

With a scowl on his face, he dropped off her back.

"It's okay, I can keep walking," the gray-and-white she-kit said softly.

"No, I think you should ride for a bit," she told her daughter worriedly.

Sighing, the tiny kit climbed onto her back. She was struck by how cold, thoroughly cold, the kit was. _Yes. I have to carry her all the way to the border. Mistykit and Stonekit will have to be okay until then,_ she thought nervously.

The trees were starting to thin as they neared the river, though she couldn't see it through the thick, snow-laden winds. The blizzard was getting worse. _We're almost there,_ she thought desperately.

Through the shroud of the snow, a couple of forms were becoming visible suddenly. A silhouette, a gray cat… Only a few fox-lengths ahead.

"Hello?"

The figure didn't move.

"Kits, I want you to stay right here," she told them softly. "Try to huddle in this snowbank so you don't get caught in the wind. Alright?"

The three of them nodded fearfully, darting glances at the figure up ahead.

She padded forwards, trying to put up a brave front for her kits. The silhouette did not move at all. It was familiar to her. _Almost like… Snowfur. But not quite._

"Hello? Are you alright?" she called out, trying to stop her voice from wavering.

She was within a couple tail-lengths now.

"Excuse me, but are-" She froze, staring at the gray she-cat before her. _It's… me. How is that possible?_ Her mind flipped through possibilities, but it was undeniable. _How?_

"Bluefur."

She backpedalled, fearful of the spectre-like apparition of herself.

"Do not be afraid," her mirror-image told her. "I am here to help you. And so is she."

As she froze, she glanced down to see that a she-cat stood at the paws of her opposite self.

"Mosskit?" she murmured.

"Hello," her daughter said softly. "I'm sorry, but you have to make a decision."

Bluefur cocked her head. "What? A decision about what?"

"Me or the Clan, mother."

The world paled around the two of them, the features of the snowy forest fading away to be replaced by the thorn walls of the ThunderClan camp. Something was wrong though. A familiar, spiky gray-and-white-haired tom stood atop the Highrock.

"Thistleclaw?" Bluefur said fearfully. He didn't seem to acknowledge her presence at all.

Mistykit, Stormkit, and Mosskit stumbled through the entrance, flanked by two dark, shadowed figures. They were each bleeding.

"My kits!" Bluefur exclaimed, immediately jumping to her feet and rushing to them. But her paws passed right through them.

As the kits were ushered to the Highrock, Thistleclaw drew his bloodstained teeth back in a maniacal laugh. His paw raised, his claws unsheathed, and then the vision went black.

A scream rang out in the silence, and then they were back in the blizzard.

"No!" Bluefur screamed, burying her face in her paws.

"That will be the future if you turn back now," Mosskit told her softly.

"I can't. I can't let it happen!" Bluefur said raggedly. "RiverClan will be better. It has to be."

"Then go," Mosskit said simply, her soft blue eyes glowing with meaning.

…

"You see? There was nothing to be done," Mosskit told Bluestar, turning away from the vision pool. "Even that alternate past would result in the same loss."

"I wish things could have been different," Bluestar said softly, resting her head on her daughters.

"So do I. Every day."

 **~Akila**


	20. The Butterfly Effect

**I'm in the mood for some challenges, so here's 'The Butterfly Effect'**

 **Description of the challenge: Cats' names all ways have a different meaning and can show what the leader thinks of that cat. For example, Fireheart was because he is brave or Tigerclaw because he has long claws. What would happen if a canon character was given a different warrior name, how would they react, would the name be good or bad? You can go as crazy as you want and try to be creative!**

 **Well, if my name isn't Akila Creative Castella, then may God strike me down where I stand! (Please don't, that's super not my name…)**

The Butterfly Effect.

"I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name," Firestar announced proudly, his coat glowing in the sun-high blaze. "Dovepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Doveears. StarClan honours your intelligence and enterprise, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan!"

And with that, her life was officially ruined.

…

"Take a deep breath," Bumblestripe advised sagely.

"I don't need more air, I need Firestar to wake up and smell the squirrels!" Doveears raged. "How could he do this to me? Ever since he found out about that mouse-brained prophecy, that's all he talks about! Saving the Clan this, power of the stars that! I wish I could shut my ears off!"

"So you didn't have to listen to him or so you weren't part of the prophecy?"

"Both! Either! Grrr, I don't know!"

They were supposedly hunting to celebrate her achievement, but Doveears was in the mood for very few things and celebrating didn't make the cut.

Bumblestripe was also supposedly comforting her, but either he was doing a poor job or she wasn't going to be talked down so easily. _Or both. Either. Argh, this is getting more feather-brained by the heartbeat! What is Firestar_ doing _?! He didn't name Jayfeather Jayknowshowyoufeel or Lionblaze Lionfighter or something. Why am I different?! Why am I_ always _the exception?!_

"I just want to be recognized for something _more_ than my powers!" she spat finally, knowing that the line between fury and tears was rapidly blurring, and if there was one thing she _wasn't_ going to do, it was cry.

"I recognize you for more than your powers!" Bumblestripe protested.

"Yeah but you're…" Doveears sighed. "I- ugh, it's not about you, anyways."

Looking perturbed, the tom glanced away. "Well, talk to him if you're so upset. Jayfeather is the only cat in the Clans that will know how you feel if you don't talk about it."

Doveears hissed in frustration, tearing up the ground underfoot.

"But… but… you're right."

"It's just a name. It's not your whole life," Bumblestripe added, shrugging.

She was immediately back on the defensive, baring her teeth defiantly.

"Except it _is_ my whole life! Do you know the last time I had a _conversation_ with a cat without my mouse-brained powers coming up?!" she spat. "Never! Because they look at me and they see 'how can she be most useful?' Because that's what I am now! A commodity, a tool, not a cat! Not hopes or ambition or feelings, just good senses."  
Bumblestripe did one of his nose-exhales that made Doveears want to stuff grass in his mouth so he would stop. Maybe he knew she was right and didn't want to lose an argument. _I want to argue, though! I want to change the minds of the cats that think it's somehow okay to treat me like a piece of bracken to weave into the walls of the camp or a feather that will make their nest more comfortable. I want some cat to see how it hurts me._

She swallowed hard, coming to the conclusion that she would definitely, no-buts about it, inevitably, have to talk to Firestar, a revered hero and her own kin.

"Chin up, Doveears," he said comfortingly.

"Please don't call me that," she said defeatedly.

"Is Dovepaw better?" It was a genuine offer, but she snorted.

"No, if I have to go back to being an apprentice I'm going to claw my face off," she vowed. "How- how about… um. I never really tried to pick a name for myself. Figured it'd just lead to disappointment, but I think Firestar had already planned to help me out there." She snorted.

They sat in silence for several heartbeats while Bumblestripe seemed to rack his mind for a way to lift her spirits and Doveears stewed in her own acidic frustration.

"By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Doveears, from this moment on, you will be known as Doveshine. I honour your kindness and brilliance, and I welcome you." Bumblestripe's voice was half-way between joking and offering.

 _I mean…_ She couldn't deny, he was being sweet, and she sagged a little bit. "Doveshine's a lovely name. Thank you… I think. I'm going to go talk to Firestar. If he asks me for suggestions, maybe I'll use that."

Bumblestripe's smile could have replaced the sun. "No problem."  
She touched her muzzle to his and hurried off to talk to Firestar before his reaction could make her heart ache more.

…

"Firestar, could we talk?"

"You know my den is always open, Doveears."

"About that…"

 **Full disclosure; I don't really like Dovewing, but I think that's probably because I relate to her and I don't like to think about that…**

 **Anyways.**

 **Word Count: 775**

 **I think other than some basic whining, little was done to explore Dovewing's deep-seated uncomfortable frustration with her powers, and I wanted to go in a little harder.**

 **To me, the relationship between Dovewing and Bumblestripe is that of a she-cat that doesn't want to hurt her friend through rejecting him, but simultaneously doesn't want to lead him on. Quite bittersweet.**

 **Leave a review telling me what you thought (and your opinion on Dovewing!)**

 **~Akila**


	21. Who's There?

**It's another challenge! Woot woot!**

 **Title: Who's There?**

 **Description: This is a twist on the popular imaginary friend/talking to ghosts. Consider the conflicting emotions of wanting to believe the best in someone, or wanting to defend someone. Let your imagination run wild with the 'deeply troubling thing' they overhear. A rational explanation for the ostensibly invisible cat? Or is it supernatural? If you've written another challenge using a cat speaking to someone that appears to not be there at all, try writing the same situation from another perspective!**

 **Just letting you all know, this is a depiction of extreme gaslighting; viewer discretion is advised.**

Who's There?

Waspgaze was a good warrior.

Or so his Clanmates told him.

He never complained about hunting patrol in the snow, cheered up every cat on dawn patrol with his wicked sense of humour, and voluntarily did the elders' bedding when there were no apprentices available. Hazelstar had entrusted the training of partially deaf Blizzardkit to him, and she had become a warrior alongside her littermates all the same.

But Waspgaze was not so convinced of his own virtues.

Because he had a secret that might make all of his Clanmates rethink exactly what they thought of as a 'good warrior'.

He was desperately in love with Cherrybloom.

She took his breath away; her sparkling eyes as she told a joke, her furious commitment to her Clanmates, her indomitable energy in the face of adversary, her easy confidence that set even the most distrustful, skittish cats at ease…

Her skill with herbs.

Her connection to StarClan.

Her absolute untouchable status.

The medicine cat of CliffClan was the most intelligent, kind, warm, brilliant, charming soul that Waspgaze had ever known, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

 _Hopeless. I have no hope._

Which was true, for two reasons.

A medicine cat would never love a warrior.

Or if she would, and if it happened to be an arrogant tom like, say, Thorndusk, Waspgaze would wait until Thorndusk was guarding the CliffClan camp alone, make a noise just outside the camp, stay still until Thorndusk came to investigate it, and then make him choke on his own blood.

Correction; Waspgaze _had_ waited, he _had_ made a noise, _had_ stayed still,and _had_ made him choke on his own blood, and _had_ made certain that Cherrybloom would not be breaking the code with any tom.

She didn't take it well.

The moon where she had been utterly inconsolable, supposedly because while she was slumbering, she had unknowingly condemned a Clanmate to death, had been one of the hardest times in Waspgaze's life.

Seeing his precious love in the pain that she had caused him by all the gazes at Thorndusk and choosing him to guard her as she collected herbs… well, he told himself that he'd lived through it and so would she. It rang hollow as he saw the broken look in her glowing golden eyes day after day, but piece by piece, she put herself back together.

It had been about a moon since that vile tom had been put out of his misery, and it was on one such green-leaf sun-high that Waspgaze found himself escorting Cherrybloom to the patch of goldenrod that grew in one of the inlets by the cliffside.

 _Nearly every cat has forgotten about Thorndusk,_ he reflected with a bittersweet pang. _Well. I suppose I won't ever…_

A ghost of a smile flickered across his face and he cast his eyes back to Cherrybloom, feeling a familiar happy jump in his stomach as he took in her lithe ginger and brown mottled form. _So beautiful._

"What?" Cherrybloom asked with a flicker of a frown.

"Huh?"

"You were- staring," she said bluntly, glancing away again.

"Just making sure nothing's ambushed you yet," he joked, trying for a casual grin. "You medicine cats. Always getting yourself attacked by this or that."

"Yeah," she agreed, but her mind seemed elsewhere.

"Are you alright?" he asked, softening his tone. _Did some cat actually hurt her? I'll tear his pelt off._ "Is it…"

"One moon ago, I went to sleep thinking I was a good medicine cat and I could help my Clanmates," Cherrybloom said bitterly, gritting her teeth. "And now…"

"Thorndusk's death wasn't your fault," he told her gently, considering pressing his pelt against hers 'comfortingly' and deciding against it. "It was tragic. No cat could've seen it coming."

Cherrybloom sighed, glancing down. Waspgaze's stomach twisted as her golden eyes filled with tears. _Time to press my pelt against hers comfortingly._ Despite the gesture, she continued to stare at the ground helplessly.

"You can help cats, and you do!" Waspgaze told her, but nothing seemed to be helping. "Cherrybloom, I love- what you do… and how you- um, sacrifice yourself every day for your Clanmates. No cat could ask more of you. Thorndusk would be proud of you."

She exhaled softly, glancing upwards and sniffing.

"I appreciate that Waspgaze," she said, and he tried to conceal a little tremble as her sweet voice lilted over his name. "But until I see him again, I don't know if I'll truly be at peace."

The immediate swing from delight to anger nearly blinded him. _Be at peace?! She doesn't need him! I got rid of him!_ He took a deep breath, clearing the thoughts.

"At peace? Are- excuse me, but are you really only upset about losing a _Clanmate_?" he hinted, then registered how cold and calculating he sounded. _Well, if she was so enamoured with Thorndusk, maybe she likes not-so-nice toms._

Cherrybloom's golden gaze snapped to his immediately and she stared straight into his equally yellow eyes for the first time during their outing. "StarClan, no. I'm a medicine cat, or have _you_ forgotten?"

He didn't miss the subtle emphasis on ' _you_ '. "I'm just trying to support a grieving Clan, but it seems it goes deeper for you. Maybe I'm imagining things," he offered.

"Maybe you are."

 _Did I imagine Thorndusk's smirks? Did I imagine your flustered demeanour around him? Did I hallucinate every time you asked him to escort you to the herbs? Was I dreaming when I saw you two in the underbrush around the border, tails entwined?_

"There's an old badger set around here," Cherrybloom suddenly told him. "Sometimes stoats and other sorts of nasty creatures can hide in there and then creep up, up-wind of us, while we're collecting herbs. Would you watch the entrance while I get the goldenrod?"

"Sure!" he agreed enthusiastically, immediately dropping the cold-accuser act.

She sighed, glancing at the clouds mournfully. "Thorndusk knew all this. I suppose I'll just have to teach you all of it too…"

 _And I can replace him. Precisely._

He quickly tracked down the badger set, which was actually further than she'd made it out to be, and sat down in front of it, giving it his best intimidating stare. _No foxes, weasels, or stoats on my watch. Or any other furry animals that would go for the throat._

It was quickly becoming clear to him that this was a useless job.

 _If there was something in there, I'd have smelled it,_ he thought irritably. _But my love told me, and so… But what if…_

And then the part he kept trapped in the deepest, darkest den of his mind, a jealous fox, began to poke its nose out into his thoughts. _Or she got rid of you on purpose. So she could go meet with Aspenrunner, Raincreek, Otterswirl-_

He cut himself off with a firm shake. _No. She's just getting herbs. Trust is important in every relationship._

 _But she's been gone for awhile now…_

 _I'll just check on her quickly._

 _Just quickly._

But that didn't explain to him why he was stalking through the bushes like he was hunting something. _I don't want to give her attacker an advantage,_ he told himself, but there weren't any sounds of struggle up ahead.

Just a soft conversation.

And it sounded like it was about him.

…

Cherrybloom stared at the blurry-outlined form that stood before her in the previously empty clearing. It was a familiar one, but one she thought she'd never see again.

A broad-shouldered, muscular dark brown tom with streaks of warm brown and green eyes that, when carefully examined, revealed flecks of amber and gold.

"Thorndusk," she breathed, feeling the swelling storm of love, grief, and everything in between threaten to erupt all over again.

"I'm so sorry I left you." He sounded the same, the same warmth and confidence of a tom that knew who he was and wasn't afraid to be it. "I'll never stop wishing things were different."

"I"m just glad to see you," she whispered, not confident in her ability to speak normally without bawling in front of the one cat whose opinion she cared about.

Unable to stop herself, she darted forwards and tried to press her cheek against his. But her muzzle went right through him.

"You're not really here," she said flatly. "You're… a ghost? A StarClan cat?"

"I came to tell you something," he said, but the look in his eyes told her that he was equally pained by their inability to touch. And she had thought that there couldn't possibly be anything that separated them further. "Cherrybloom, I… I didn't get killed by a fox."

"Then… did you survive? Is this-" She broke off with a sob. _It can't be true. He's gone, and I can't try to hope that he isn't or I'm going to break my own heart all over again._ "Thorndusk, what's going on?"

His gaze slid past her, and she glanced back, but the clearing remained empty.

"I heard a noise, I left the camp to check it out, and Waspgaze tore my throat open," Thorndusk said flatly.

"Waspgaze-" she echoed, and drew such a sharp breath that she felt light-headed. Or was that because she found out her warrior escort was a murderer? Could be either, really. "...Killed you?"

"Strength, sweetheart, you have to be strong," Thorndusk said urgently. "You have to get back to camp _right now_ and tell Hazelstar, and-"

He broke off with a horrible, wet coughing. Coughing turned into choking, and then with final, tearing choke, his throat split and red stained the chest of her beautiful warrior-

"Waspgaze!" she whimpered, whipping around to see the broadly-built yellow tom step into the clearing with a cold look in his yellow eyes.

 _The eyes of a killer._

"Cherrybloom, were you talking to yourself?" he asked, but it didn't sound like him at all. So empty and unfeeling.

"I know what you did to him," she whispered, backing away.

A horrible gleam entered his eyes, then his face crumpled into the concerned expression of any good warrior. "Are you okay? Did you hear something?"

"I heard something," she said, baring her teeth. "Something very interesting about the circumstances around Thorndusk's death."

He blinked comfortingly. "I'm sure it sounded very real. But it's over now. Why don't we get you back to camp?"

"There is no _we_ ," she spat.

"What? What are you talking about?" Confusion flickered over his face.

"Is that why you did it? Waspgaze, I don't love you."  
"You're confused, it's alright, why don't we go back to camp and have a nice talk with Hazelstar?" His warm, concerned look took on a tiny hint of menace. "Think carefully about what you're going to say to her when you get back. After all, it's dangerous on the territory. Stoats, weasels. And _foxes_."

Cherrybloom did not intend to roll over and die.

"Like the fox that killed Thorndusk?" she demanded boldly.

"A tragedy." But the barest ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"You _killed_ him!" she shrieked, and flew at him. The basic defensive training moves that medicine cats learned were far from relevant in the moment of blind anger. _Duck and roll away_ were nothing compared to _hook your claws into his pelt and don't let go until he can taste his own blood._

"Cherrybloom! Waspgaze! What's going on?!"

Smokewater, CliffClan's esteemed deputy, stormed into the clearing, her amber eyes alight with confusion. "Let go of Waspgaze, Cherrybloom! Get a hold of yourself!"

She inhaled sharply, realizing how it looked. _She_ had attacked _him_ , and that much was obvious in the way that Waspgaze was on his back with a spitting-furious Cherrybloom standing over him.

She stepped off of him, unable to look away from the horrified-seeming Waspgaze who had concealed the gleam of triumph in his yellow eyes well.

"I didn't- he- I-" she exclaimed, trying to make her fur lie flat and failing.

"Cherrybloom, how could you?" Waspgaze whispered woundedly, his wide-eyed yellow look telling the deputy all she needed to know.

"We're going straight back to camp," Smokewater decided and nodded at one of the warriors in her patrol. "Gullstream, help Cherrybloom back."

The burly gray and white warrior fell in step with her, looking hesitant but unwavering.

"Gullstream, I didn't," she whispered pitifully, but the other she-cat's blue gaze was fixed straight ahead.

Waspgaze didn't say a word either. She twisted her neck to stare at him, unbridled hatred ripe in her eyes, but knew saying anything risked worsening the situation. _He's going to twist it, I know he is, but Hazelstar will believe me. Won't she?_

"Keep walking," Gullstream grunted.

"I-" Cherrybloom faltered, and closed her eyes, tightening her resolve. _She_ will _believe me._

As they reentered camp, it was only heartbeats before whispers broke out at the strange arrangement of the patrol, with hard-eyed Smokewater leading them, to Cherrybloom being tightly followed by a burly warrior, to Waspgaze trembling behind them with Bluescar comforting him in the back.

"Smokewater?" Hazelstar asked softly.

"We heard a shout," the deputy said grimly. "Upon investigation, we found Waspgaze being attacked by a seemingly-enraged and senseless Cherrybloom."

Hazelstar's eyebrows shot up. "Cherrybloom?"

The medicine cat choked off a sob. "I didn't- I wouldn't- he-" But it was hard to get anything out without erupting into tears.

"Get Sagepaw out here," Hazelstar ordered Raincreek. "Waspgaze, why don't you tell me your version?"

Trembling, Waspgaze slunk forwards, his gaze downcast.

"She… she was talking to some cat," he whispered. "She sent me off to stand guard, and when I went back- she-" His voice shook so much he seemed to need a heartbeat to collect himself before continuing. "She was standing in an empty clearing, _talking_ to some cat… that wasn't there. And I- I called out to her, and she looked at me with this _look_ in her eye… and then she started spitting nonsense about me attacking some cat or something, and she just leapt at me and-" He broke off, shaking his head with his eyes screwed up like it was too painful to talk about.

"I was so scared," he murmured. "It's like… it's like she wasn't even herself."

Hazelstar nodded gravely, sympathy clear in her eyes.

He really was an incredible actor. _Who_ wouldn't _believe him?_

The whole situation suddenly seemed hilarious to her, and a hysterical laugh bubbled out of her throat, and before she could get a hold of herself, peals of choked laughter escaped her, escalating wildly until it was entirely tears and slight convulsions.

When it faded to ragged gasps, she saw that Gullstream and Smokewater were standing over her, staring. "I-" she began, but both she-cats immediately flinched away.

"Cherrybloom, are you alright?" Hazelstar sounded concerned. And… scared.

"I'm not!" she whimpered, scrambling to her paws and backing away from the yellow tom that stood in the centre of camp. "He- he _killed_ him, and I'm not alright! Why isn't any cat doing anything?"  
She hiccuped through her sobs, her head twisting from side to side as she tried to shake out the thoughts and images of Thorndusk pricking his ears on guard, Thorndusk padding out of the camp with his head swinging from side to side, the gleam of yellow eyes in the bushes…

"Eat this thyme." It was her apprentice Sagepaw, pawing some small green herbs.

"I don't need to calm down, I need to avenge Thorndusk!" she spat, flicking the herbs away with a swipe of her claws.

At the action, Hazelstar and Smokewater both tensed. _Why are they acting like I'm the threat here?! Take out the murderer!_

Waspgaze, now that all the eyes in the camp were fixed on Cherrybloom, had the smallest of smirks scrawled across his muzzle.

"I'm not crazy," she sobbed. "He killed Thorndusk. Please!"

"I'm sure it sounded real-" Hazelstar began softly, but Cherrybloom talked over her.

"He lured him out, and then tore his throat out!" she spat. "He's a killer! He's a monster! _Look at him_!"

The smirk vanished. The fearful, concerned Clanmate reappeared, and Cherrybloom choked back another sob.

 _How is this real? It's true! I saw Thorndusk! He told me! Didn't… he… it wasn't my imagination. He told me. I saw him._

"You're young for it, but it's possible to start seeing things that aren't there, hearing things-" Sagepaw began hesitantly, glancing at Hazelstar.

" _He's a monster!_ "

"Cherrybloom, eat the thyme," Hazelstar said, her tone even.

"He killed him."

"Eat the thyme."

Tears pooling in her eyes, Cherrybloom ducked her head and swallowed down the tiny leaves. "He's a murderer."

Waspgaze's picture of innocence was only helped as he cowered in the face of the accusations and wept like a victim.

As heady calmness settled over her, she began to laugh once more. A dry, hollow sound. "You don't believe me. He killed him, and absolutely no cat cares."

But as the logic set in and her hysteria was shuffled to the side, she began to wonder. _What if I imagined Thorndusk. What if I imagined the look in his eye, the threat, the menace, the_ act.

She swallowed hard. _But I_ saw _it!_

And yet, her medicine cat brain wouldn't shut off. _The afflicted can produce hyper-real hallucinations unconsciously and are unable to distinguish between the real world and their imaginings._

"Cherrybloom, until this is resolved, I think you should spend some time in the elders' den," Hazelstar said quietly after conferring with Smokewater for several heartbeats. "Waspgaze can bring you your meals so that you readjust to your Clanmates. He did not kill Thorndusk. Thorndusk's death was a tragedy, but no cat's fault."

She choked back another sob and nodded. "Yes, Hazelstar."

But she couldn't be imagining the triumphant spark in the eyes of Waspgaze, could she? It was real. Wasn't it? _If I can't trust my senses… what can I trust?_ she thought numbly.

She allowed herself to be brought to the elders' den, didn't watch as an apprentice hurried in and brought her moss, didn't look up when every cat quietly and quickly hurried out of the den, leaving her all alone.

 _I'm not crazy._

…

It had been a quarter-moon of living in the elders' den before Cherrybloom was ready to explode. Left alone with her thoughts, she'd picked apart and reanalyzed the moment in the clearing until the point of insanity. _Assuming I wasn't already there,_ she thought hysterically, her breathing coming in short gasps again.

It was almost sunset. Waspgaze would be bringing in her dinner any time now.

"Ready to eat?" the tom in question asked gently, blocking the fading light as he entered the den.

She remained mute as he dropped a robin on the floor of the den. The other elders were enjoying the last sun of green-leaf in the middle of camp. She didn't choose to subject herself to the stares.

"Oh come on, not even a little hungry?" he teased, drawing closer.

Her mouth drying, she rested her muzzle on her paws and closed her eyes.

 _I'm not crazy._

"Can't be easy, cooped up in here all day," he baited, but she ignored him. "After all, what cat wants to be punished for something they didn't do?"

She swallowed hard, but her mouth was like sand.

"All day alone with your thoughts, who _wouldn't_ go crazy?"  
She squeezed her eyes more tightly shut as his laughter filled the den, growing to a claw-sharp point. "Can't be easy at all."

"Especially since…"

His breath ruffled her earfur as he leaned closer. She flinched away.

"No one will ever believe you."

 _I'm not crazy!_

Her head snapped up, and she looked into the devious eyes of Waspgaze, opened her mouth, and shouted, "Smokewater!"

With a last smirk, Waspgaze slunk further into the den, sliding past her.

"Smokewater!"

The deputy appeared in the entrance of the den. "Cherrybloom?"

"Waspgaze, he was _just_ here, and he threatened me, and-" she sobbed, shaking her head viciously. "I'm not crazy!"

"Relax Cherrybloom, you're back in the real world," the deputy said soothingly. "Waspgaze is out on patrol. Gullstream will bring you something to eat tonight."

"But- but- he was just-" Cherrybloom craned her head around to peer into the shadows at the back of the den, but even in the setting sun's dusky light, it was obvious they were empty. "He brought a robin!"

But the robin was gone. Had he taken it? She couldn't remember.

"He was here!" she whimpered. "Can't you scent him?"

The deputy frowned. "You know the pollen makes my nose get blocked up. His scent is here from sun-high, so you're probably just smelling that."

"I'm _not_!" Cherrybloom protested futilely. "I'm not!"

"I'll send in Gullstream with your dinner. Try to get some sleep," the deputy advised softly.

As Smokewater hurried out of the den, eager to escape the mad medicine cat of CliffClan, Cherrybloom collapsed back into her nest like a dead leaf.

 _He was here. He was. I can scent him, all around._

 _I'm not crazy._

But this time, she didn't even believe herself.

 **Word count: 3532**

 **~Akila**


	22. Winter Games

**Ahhh, well, after the last challenge, I think it's high time I wrote some nice Christmas fluff.**

 **Put on a cup of tea or cocoa, snuggle up by the fireside, and settle in. I'm taking some time off my weekly career of bashing people's hearts in with baseball bats so I can write some sweet, not-sad and messed up, flof.**

 **Title: Winter Games**

 **Description: It's leaf-bare: a cat's first ever time seeing this much ice and snow-and they're going to make the best of it! Do they play on the ice? Have a snow fight? It's up to you!**

 **Extreme joy and happiness inbound.**

Winter Games.

"No, you have to _hide_!"

Acornpaw giggled as his best friend's exasperated exclamation rang over the clearing.

"I am hiding! I'm hiding as a not-suspicious-pile-of-cat-like-rocks!" he protested cheerfully, shaking his pelt off. "I'd rather lose than freeze to death because I covered by pelt with snow."

"Some of us commit to winning," his brother Swanpaw argued, standing and shaking out his fluffy white pelt. "No pain no gain."

"You're both hare-brains," Thistlepaw announced cheerfully, giving Acornpaw a wry glance as Swanpaw shivered in his now-soaking pelt. "Especially you, Swanpaw. At least Acornpaw had the good sense to know that I never lose."

Acornpaw giggled then forced his face into a serious expression and nodded. "Indeed, Lord Thistlelegs."

"Watch it, kit," his friend snorted, cuffing him amiably. "Respect your elders."

Swanpaw stood by his claim that Acornpaw was the worst type of cat for Thistlepaw since his dark brown tabby brother did little other than inflate Thistlepaw's ego, but Acornpaw's heart was in equally high spirits when his larger-than-life friend was cheerful.

"Did ol' Thistles mess his bedding again? I've had to replace that moss three times already," Swanpaw teased. "He's a real elder alright."

"You lookin' to pick a fight?" Thistlepaw hissed, waggling his hindquarters.

"You lookin' to grow one?" Swanpaw retorted, not entirely sensically. "Or do you need Acornpaw to tell you you're great a couple more times before you'll even bother trying?"

Acornpaw yelped in protest, but Thistlepaw gave him a warm amber grin that made him feel like he was tucked up toastily in the apprentice den, sleeping soundly. An answering smile snuck onto his face before he could stop himself.

"Well now I'm not just fighting for myself, I'm fighting for the honour of my mate! And our- our six litters of kits!" Thistlepaw tacked on the last part quickly so it was obvious that he was being absurd. "Have at thee, rogue!"

With a giggle that Acornpaw recognized as very similar to his own, Swanpaw darted to one side. "'Oh Thistlepaw, you're so smart, and so good at hunting, and fighting, and leading, and talking.'" Swanpaw pitched his voice up in ostensibly an imitation of Acornpaw, despite the dark brown brother knowing full-well his own voice's pitch was lower than the snow-white tom's.

"Well, I am," Thistlepaw deadpanned, making another swipe at Swanpaw.

Rolling his eyes at their antics, Acornpaw glanced away to see that it was snowing yet again. _At this rate, all of GroveClan territory is going to be submerged in snow!_ It had already been one of the biggest blizzards Acornpaw had ever seen - though granted, he'd only been through two leaf-bares, one of which he was too young to remember - and the snow didn't seem to be melting, only thickening and layering.

A devious smile flickering onto his face, he dug his paw into a snowbank and flicked the lump of snow straight at the two tussling toms.

It smacked Thistlepaw right in the chest as he reared above Acornpaw's brother to deliver the 'final blow'. Thistlepaw gasped at the cold shock, then the betrayal, and then his amber eyes glittered with wolfish delight.

"You're going after me now too? I can handle both of you," Thistlepaw boasted. "Come at me!"

Laughing, Acornpaw retreated into the snowy trees.

"Hey! Mouse-heart!"

"Yes?" Acornpaw teased, poking his head back out of the trees. "You called- oof!"

A pawful of snow collided with his muzzle and he reeled back, gasping and promptly regretting gasping. Snow invaded his nose and he choked, stumbling.

"Are you okay?"

 _Advantage,_ he thought and coughed heartily.

As expected, Thistlepaw hurried over, looking chagrined and worried. "I'm sorry! I was aiming for your chest, you're just so darn short- I mean, um, mouse-dung!"

Holding back a giggle, he coughed again pitifully.

"Heads-up!" Swanpaw shouted gleefully as a pawful of snow soared towards the pair.

"Swanpaw! Your brother's hurt, get a clue!" Thistlepaw snapped, immediately stepping in front of Acornpaw's hunched body to block the snow.

"Oh! Uh, oh noooo, Acornpaw?" Swanpaw was unfortunately not as talented an actor as his brother.

Acornpaw surged forwards as Thistlepaw turned to reexamine the 'hurt' apprentice and bowled him over.

"Oy!" Thistlepaw yelped.

Swanpaw cried out in victory as Acornpaw tried to wrestle his friend to the ground, though it was quickly becoming clear that Swanpaw's cheer had been premature; Acornpaw's momentary advantage was not going to make up for the size difference.

Thistlepaw pinned him and laughed. "Oh come _on_ , that was easy as stealing prey from a kit! Have you actually been training for five moons?!"  
"Ask Lakespirit," Acornpaw puffed, out of breath. "It's felt like ten, but maybe that's just me."

"Or you've been slacking off," Thistlepaw teased. "Hm? Sneaking off to meet CliffClanners?"

"Yeah right. What would I need from those fox-hearts that I don't have right here?" Acornpaw giggled, not sobered much by the solemnity in his friend's amber eyes. The answer seemed to satisfy him as he removed his paw from Acornpaw's chest and let him up.

"No more snow tricks," Thistlepaw warned. "Or I'll pin you again and not let you up that time."

"Oh come on, you're not going to let him order you around like that, are you?" Swanpaw whined.

"On the other paw, snow tricks are fine as long as they're not aimed at me," Thistlepaw amended, the same wolfish grin reappearing.

Thistlepaw's good mood was infectious, and the spiky-furred tom seemed to be well aware as he nudged Acornpaw's shoulder. "I've given up my life of delinquency, but…"

Giving Thistlepaw an innocent grin, he lifted a pawful of snow and whipped it at Swanpaw's head. "Whoops."

"You dirty turn-feather!" Swanpaw squawked.

"Run?"  
"Run."

Swanpaw chased them through the forest and was gaining on them when Thistlepaw, without warning, grabbed Acornpaw's scruff and threw them both into the snowbank. Snow cascaded over them and they were hidden from sight as Swanpaw continued on his warpath.

Acornpaw gasped, trying to catch his breath, and slapped his tail over Thistlepaw's muzzle who was trying and failing to contain his laughter. "Shh!" he hushed between gasps.

"Sorry for grabbin' ya," Thistlepaw mumbled, swallowing a giggle. "Didn't know how to get the crazy-cat off our heels."

"Guess it worked," Acornpaw admitted. "He sounds long gone."

"Lost the scent or was too angry to care?"

"StarClan knows," Acornpaw replied, inciting a laugh that warmed him to his fur-tips. "And StarClan themselves can't stop him."

"Your brother's a fiery one," Thistlepaw said, shrugging.

"Yeah." _Why are we talking about Swanpaw when it's just us?_

"But I bet he's a big softy on the inside," Thistlepaw continued thoughtfully. "I mean, if every litter has a certain amount of mushy-gooey-ness, you got more than your fair share, but Swanpaw's _got_ to have a little, right?"

"Mushy-gooey-ness?" he repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

"I mean- like-" Thistlepaw fumbled. "Well, you know. Squishy-gooshy-ness."  
Acornpaw stared at him.

"It's- like- y'know."

"Swanpaw has layers, and they alternate between fire and ice. I don't know if mushy-gooey-squishy-gooshy is anywhere in there. Or in me for that matter," Acornpaw exclaimed, then giggled and shook his head. " _What_ does that even mean?!"

"StarClan knows," Thistlepaw said piously and managed to hold out for a heartbeat before dissolving into laughter once more.

Acornpaw let a contented smile drift across his face as his friend laughed at his own genius, falling back into the snow and looking up at the snowflakes swirling lazily through the air. It really was a perfect leaf-bare day.

"We have the whole day off," Acornpaw told Thistlepaw once the spiky-furred apprentice had gotten a hold of himself. "What do you want to do first?"

Thistlepaw thought about it - _really_ thought about it, which Acornpaw knew because he stuck his bottom lip out and chewed on the top one - and then fell back onto the snowbank. "I'm good here," he admitted, then peeked at the dark brown tabby out of the corner of his eye.

"It's cold," Acornpaw pointed out.

"We're sheltered from the wind," Thistlepaw countered.

"The snow _underneath_ us is cold, feathers-for-brains."

"We'll keep each other warm, mouse-for-heart."

"Oka- what?"

"Mouse-for-heart. Now shush, I'm trying to find two of the same snowflakes."

"You're going to fail."

"I never lose."

"Yeah."

Acornpaw smiled. A whole day off. Incredible luxury, especially when the whole territory had been transformed into a leaf-bare wonderland to explore. _But for now…_

He was alright right there, his best friend by his side and his brother rampaging through the forest.

 **AWWWWW. *raptor shriek* so adorbs.**

 **Word count: 1420**

 **~Akila**


	23. A New Tradition

**Yeah, another challenge. Yeah, another holiday-themed challenge. Yeah, I'm fluffy trash.**

 **Title: A New Tradition**

 **Description: It's leaf-bare in the Clan(s), and a former kittypet (or whoever) in the Clans introduces a new leaf-bare tradition to the Clan(s). What tradition is this? Is this a tradition that the Clan(s) decides to do every year? And how does it affect how the Clan(s) see leaf-bare, if at all?**

A New Tradition.

i

"Oh! You don't- No, no, it's fine! Don't worry about it," Rosie said quickly, but she'd already interrupted the leader.

"No, go ahead," Lightstar said patiently. "You were saying? The eight days?"

"We- we just had a thing we did, in the twolegs place," Rosie blurted awkwardly. "But it's fine. I don't- it's all part of Clanlife, right?"

Stagthorn cocked his head. "We could always add to Clanlife. What did you do in the twolegs place?"

Rosie shuffled her paws, embarrassed by the attention of the entire Clan on her, but explained nonetheless. "Well, when leaf-bare got really hard, we'd come together and give each other things. Every day, for eight days, to get us through the hardest, darkest part, and remind us that we were all in it together."

"'Cause kittypets have it so hard," one elder muttered acerbically, but the rest of the Clan seemed uplifted by the idea, murmuring amongst themselves and smiling to each other thoughtfully.

"Give each other things? What sorts of things?" the leader questioned.

"Well, one tom was really fond of giving out flowers from his twolegs' garden," Rosie recalled. "Though his twolegs were… less so. Um. One really old she-cat told stories about some group of cats that lived in an abandoned warehouse and enacted a sort of, um, vigilante justice thing on the kittypets and loners and rogues. BatClan, they called themselves."

Lightstar nodded thoughtfully, then grinned. "Very well. I officially declare the eight days as a new Clan tradition!"

"You do!?" Rosie exclaimed. "And that's- not what it was called. It was called… huh. Can't remember. Something weird."

"Well, the eight days will do for now," Lightstar said, shrugging. "Or… what do you think about Rosie's Eight Days?"

"Uh, it'll do for now," Rosie echoed, looking further embarrassed to be the face of Lightstar's new tradition.

"Then I, Lightstar, leader of MireClan, declare Rosie's Eight Days an official MireClan tradition!" Lightstar said, eyes brimming with almost kit-like delight. "The first day will be tomorrow, so think of something that you could gift to a Clanmate!"

Rosie's normally reserved face split into a bright smile. "To get through the hardest, darkest days together."

…

1

Whitebranch thought this 'eight days' idea was a bit silly. Lightstar was rather prone to seizing the newest idea and declaring it to be the tradition that would turn the group of cats into a _Clan,_ whatever that meant this moon.

He wasn't opposed to the idea of Clan pride at all but figured there had to be more useful things that the Clan could be doing other than going out and hunting for flowers or thinking up elaborate surprises for their denmates.

Regardless, he'd have to do _something_ to look good for Lightstar. Stagthorn was not a young tom anymore, and the competition for Lightstar's favour had been hard and fast. Anything that could earn him just that extra little point could put him in line to be in control of all of MireClan for moons to come.

And so that was how he found himself on a solo hunting mission, much like the rest of the Clan. _I'll just catch something for someone, and that'll be enough. Maybe for Icelake - that conniving weasel - as a show of good humour to my competition? Or should I be looking to impress some she-cat? Starting a family would look good, I bet, you know, maturity and everything._

As he schemed, the chilling wind suddenly shifted to blow a scent towards him. The succulent, rich scent of a pigeon. Muted in the snow, but delicious nonetheless.

 _Perfect._

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Whitebranch lowered himself into a practiced hunting crouch and stalked through the bushes carefully, not risking the catch on the odd crunch of snow or falling branch. _There._ A fat pigeon stood, nibbling at something at the base of a tree, blissfully unaware.

Anticipation raced through him, and he tensed to pounce.

One fluid motion and the pigeon hung from his maw limply.

"Nice," he congratulated himself, the word getting lost in the pigeon's feathers, before turning and padding back to camp. _Who should I give it to? Not Icelake, this is too good to waste on him. Do I really want to have kits though? Sandstone is beautiful, Nightshine is smart, Gingerdust is the kindest cat in the Clans… but aren't you supposed to be in love or something?_

Feeling more confused than assured, he padded into the camp and glanced around for someone to feed the pigeon to.

To his surprise, almost every cat was in the camp exchanging gifts. _Already behind._ Confused, he scanned his Clanmates, looking for ideas. Nearly every single one of them was with a member of their family. And most often, a mother.

Feeling guilty, he glanced at the elders' den. He hadn't visited Ashnight in quite a while. Not since Mothpaw was made a warrior. _Not since I had a shot at deputy,_ he corrected himself. _Let's call it how it is. You haven't had time for her._

It stung. Whitebranch was supposed to be the model warrior, and the model warrior always had a close bond with their family. _Maybe I_ should _visit her._

Actually, that was a good idea, now that he was thinking about it. _I'll give her the pigeon, and the feathers for her nest. She'll like that._ He smiled slightly, thinking of his tough old shrew of a mother. _If she doesn't berate me for not bringing it back faster, or finding a bigger one, or finding two…_

"Ashnight?" he called into the elders' den. "I brought you something."

"Doing this silly eight nights thing, are you?" his mother snorted. _Well, this brings back memories,_ he thought, chuckling to himself.

"Figured I should do something for you. Haven't really had much time for my family with the whole 'I'm desperate to be deputy and everyone can tell' thing," he said with a half-smile. "Here's a giant pigeon with feathers for your nest and meat for your stomach, and so help me StarClan, if you complain about-"

"I don't complain about everything," Ashnight said reproachfully, sweeping herself up majestically and sniffing haughtily. "That- smells good. We can share; my old bones don't take so much to keep them going nowadays."

Whitebranch let the half-smile turn into a complete one. "I'd like that."

…

2

The medicine den was quite silent despite all the commotion in the camp.

Cedarwillow sat in his den, sorting and resorting the same bundle of marigold, the sinking feeling in his stomach growing each time. So many of the stalks were shrivelled, but throwing them out would only leave a few to treat wounds. Did he keep them? Or was there no point?

He sighed, pawing the stack aside to add it to the haphazard stacks of unsorted herbs that he'd never gotten around to categorizing.

It was getting tougher; the stinging leaf-bare winds did nothing for his already blurry sight, and the darkness of the den didn't really help either. Blinking hard with frustration, he turned away from the herbs to contemplate the sorry state of his nest.

It was hard not to feel discouraged and disorderly with the current circumstances. Growing more ashamed of his failing eyesight with each day, Cedarwillow ventured out of his den less and less.

He'd mostly ignored the first day of the gift-thing that Lightstar had put the Clan up to. This was for the vigorous youth, not some decrepit old medicine cat that couldn't see a tail-length in front of his nose.

Despite the camp being alive with activity, the medicine den was quiet.

That is, until the light brown-tabby hurried in, smiling somewhat shyly.

"Hi, Cedarwillow."

"Good afternoon, Shortclaw," Cedarwillow greeted her, his voice raspy from disuse. "Bringing a friend medicine for the second day?"

"Oh! No, I actually…" She glanced down, shuffling her paws, then looked up with a determined look. "You saved my father, um, Adderstrike, when he got that infection, and… I wanted to do something for you, 'cause I didn't see you yesterday in camp and I thought maybe you went out, and anyways- um. I know it's hard to keep track of all these herbs and your den and all the sick cats and stuff, so I figured the least I could do was clean your den out for you maybe."

Cedarwillow blinked.

"You want to… clean my den? For me?" he echoed, puzzled. "Why?"

"Don't you know about Rosie's Eight Days? You were just- um, talking about it!" she exclaimed, looking affronted. "We're getting closer as a Clan, which means _all_ of us, not just the warriors and stuff. And- um, anyways, I think you should be included."

The old medicine cat blinked again and cocked his head. _That's kind._ "I appreciate that, but everything's just fine the way it's organized now."

Shortclaw cocked her head, almost mimicking him. "Organized? But- um, it's a disaster in here. I mean, there are herbs everywhere and stuff. And- your nest probably hasn't been cleaned out 'cause the apprentices have their paws full with trying to hunt in leaf-bare, and anyway, who doesn't enjoy a clean warm nest? A feather-brain."

"Where do you plan on finding clean warm moss?" he challenged, but he was grudgingly accepting that she was set on cleaning up his den for him, regardless of protest.

"I know a spot- um, I was an apprentice you know, I mean, of course you know." She shook her head at herself. "But um, I found a spot. So I'll go there and get you some. Anyways, don't spread it around or all the dry moss'll be gone."

Cedarwillow arched an eyebrow but relented with a shrug. "Alright. You know, I had to save Adderstrike. That's what medicine cats do, you may be familiar."

Shortclaw shook her head, the same determined look in her eyes. "But you worked extra hard, right? And um, all that training. I mean, even if you had to, you still did. So it's the same both ways."

He shrugged, not entirely certain her logic was flawless but willing to go along with it if she would get out of his pelt. "Go for it then."

"You should probably head out of the den so I can clear it out properly," she said firmly, her amber eyes warning him not to disagree.

He sighed, and allowed himself to be escorted out of his own den and into the pale leaf-bare light.

"Cedarwillow!" Nightshine, his sister's daughter, called him over to where his littermates and their kits were gathering around the fresh-kill pile.

"Finally crawled out of your healer-hole?" Petalsky teased, rasping her tongue over his ear and then screwing up her face, teasing. "Come _on_ Cedarwillow, there aren't so many sick cats that you don't have time to wash."

"There are a lot of sick cats," he argued.

"Not that many," she said firmly, sounding like their mother.

Pale blue and pale green had a silent argument. Petalsky's ice blue eyes didn't yield a mouse-length and Cedarwillow sighed.

"Yeah, okay, _mother_ ," he sniffed and caught Nightshine giving Petalsky an amused look. "You're not much better, Nightshine! When's the last time _you_ changed your bedding?"

"You're not my mother!" the black and white she-cat teased.

"But I am," her pale gray mother declared. "When's the last time you changed your bedding?"

"I'm not a kit," Nightshine protested, ducking away from her mother's attempt to smooth down the fur on top of her head.

"But I am," Doekit piped up, peeking out from behind Cedarwillow and Petalsky's brother Beetlebrook's paws. "And I make sure Hailpaw changes the bedding in the nursery. He does. Mostly."

Cedarwillow felt a smile creak across his face. _Already a little bossy-boots. She'll be deputy._

Petalsky glanced up from Doekit to look over Cedarwillow's shoulder and he turned to find Adderstrike himself, hobbling only slightly, with a smile.

"Sent your daughter to ransack my den, did you?" Cedarwillow accused amiably.

"Only after she did the same to me," Adderstrike confessed, purred wheezily.

"Want to see your new organization system?" Shortclaw yowled out of the medicine cat den.

"I'm alright out here for now, thanks!" Cedarwillow called, purring and exchanging glances with Adderstrike.

"All part of my plan," Shortclaw promised, and more sounds of scrabbling came out of the den.

"What is she doing to my poor herbs?" Cedarwillow wondered, purring croakily.

"Couldn't be worse than what she did to my nest," Adderstrike promised, and they laughed together.

…

3

Despite every cat's best attempts to turn this into the most important leaf-bare in the history of the Clans, Quailwhisker had barely been in camp for more than an hour or so at a time. It was rather difficult to watch every cat with their family and loved ones when his world had been fractured for the past moon to the point where he found it hard to speak to any cat.

It was all because of Antwatcher.

Or… the absence of him.

His brother had died a moon ago, and Quailwhisker didn't think he would ever be okay again. Antwatcher had the strength that Quailwhisker had never known how to find inside himself.

When their parents, torn apart with frustration and anger and resentment, had finally separated from each other, and without meaning to, their sons, Antwatcher had found the strength the strength to continue on. And he'd managed to bring his brother with him.

Their family had never been a happy one, that much Quailwhisker had known from a young age. But Antwatcher and Quailwhisker had reacted in such different ways; Quailwhisker had become just as bitter and irritable as their parents.

After all, wasn't this how real warriors acted? Who knew what the world was like?

But somehow, through all the highs and lows, disappointments and successes, Antwatcher had maintained a peaceful, kind zen.

Grace and strength under pressure.

His brother had been the brightest light in his life, the sun that he orbited, and then the green-cough had come. The weakness, the coughing, the pain in his brilliant brother's eyes.

Antwatcher.

Quailwhisker stalked restlessly through MireClan territory, wishing he could just glimpse another bug or two to remind him of his brother. Just a little something. He had a whole cat to carry inside his heart, StarClan forbid he forget anything, and it weighed on him. Already, he was forgetting the way Antwatcher's ears flicked to attention when some cat was talking to him, the way his brother sniffed his food meticulously before eating it…

He blinked back tears. _I should know what the world is like. I learned quicker than other cats what life's really like. So why is it still so fresh?_

If only there was some cat else that had the same helpless, empty tear in the fabric of his life. Their parents had each other, regardless of how miserable they made each other. They didn't have much other family. Then there was the last cat Antwatcher had left behind - besides, of course, every cat who had encountered him - was Mosspoppy.

His beloved mate.

When Quailwhisker, then Quailpaw, had initially grappled with the idea of Antwatcher, finding some she-cat to be with forever and leaving him, he'd reacted negatively. He'd prayed to StarClan every night that his brother wouldn't find her. The special she-cat that would change his mind to never forget about his bitter brother.

But when Mosspaw came along, things were different. She was his friend first, and Quailpaw adjusted. Then she was in love with him, and Quailpaw adjusted, and then they were mates and Quailwhisker was happy for another cat, something he wasn't entirely sure he could do.

Mosspoppy was similar to Antwatcher in a few key ways that endeared her to Quailwhisker. She was gentle and calm, she radiated competence, and she was collected. She was safety; Quailwhisker understood what she was to Antwatcher that he did not have in any cat else.

That was how he found his paws returning to camp, his unconscious search for a single ant that survived the leaf-bare frost fruitless, now seeking out the one she-cat that he had allowed to divide his brother's attention.

She wasn't in camp, but he had expected that.

Scenting the air, he caught her scent trail leading out of camp.

 _She can't stand to be in camp either._

He followed it out and away from the trees and towards the damper, shadier area of the territory. _She likes to brood in this nasty place?_

"Mosspoppy?" he called out hesitantly.

He heard a sniff, then the long-legged, fluffy gray she-cat stepped out of the tangle of branches, her green eyes ringed with red.

"Quailwhisker," she murmured, dipping her head and sniffing again. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this."

"I get it," he mumbled thickly, suddenly finding it hard to swallow. "Hard to feel all close to your Clanmates when the most important one is missing."

"Yes," Mosspoppy agreed softly, but her voice trembled.

"I figured I'd give this gift thing a try," he mumbled on a whim. "And you were the other cat close to him. So. I wanted to give something to you."

"You did?"

He shuffled his paws, feeling embarrassed suddenly. _Is this weird for her? Did she want to be left alone? I just… she's not alone. We can keep him alive in our hearts together. StarClan, that sounds corny._

"Well, Rosie said that thing about the old she-cat and BatClan," he reminded her.

"You wanted to talk about BatClan?" Mosspoppy cocked her head, bemused but distracted from her grieving at least.

"No, no no no," he shook his head, "I was going to give you a story."

"An Antwatcher st-" she guessed, but choked up and swallowed hard. "Sorry. A story about Antwatcher."

He nodded. "Is that… okay? I just thought…"

"I'd love to hear a story about him," Mosspoppy said softly, tears pooling openly.

Quailwhisker shifted uncomfortably. "Can we maybe go somewhere else? This is kind of- depressing."

"That's the point," Mosspoppy snorted, but nodded and ushered them out of the swampy area and back into the picturesque winter forest. "If it's alright by you, I'd rather not head back to the camp just yet."

"That's perfect," he agreed, and they sat.

Glancing up into the treetops, Quailwhisker thought about the stories of Antwatcher he knew, and settled on the most apt.

"Well, when we were kits he spent a lot of time watching bugs and collecting them and sneaking them into his nest," Quailwhisker said, snickering in memory. "Drove our parents up the walls of the nursery. We'd wake up with ants crawling in our pelts because Antwatcher decided he needed more pets. That kit had more beestings than most cats get in their whole lives, Cedarwillow used to say."

"Didn't know when his love was unwanted," Mosspoppy commented, laughing despite the tears glittering in her mossy-green eyes.

"Lucky bees," Quailwhisker muttered and Mosspoppy laughed harder. "Anyways, so one day he decided he'd put his ants back in the anthill he found them in, right behind the nursery. He only showed me and made me two-tail-twist promise to not tell our parents. They would have destroyed that thing in a heartbeat. But when he was trying to put it back in, he lost his balance and had to put the pad he was using to try to shake the ants back into the nest down on the floor, or in this case, the anthill."

"Oh no!" Mosspoppy exclaimed, laughing all the same. "Poor Antkit."

"More like poor _ants_ ," Quailwhisker commented, shaking his head. "Absolute destruction. No survivors."

"He must have been _devastated_ ," Mosspoppy replied.

"Traumatized. We almost missed our apprenticeship ceremony," he said.

As their laughter subsided, they were left awkwardly looking at each other in the leaf-bare forest. _She doesn't have feelings for me like_ that _, right? Because that would be wrong to Antwatcher. And awkward for me, because either Gingerdust is going to make the first move or I'm going to die alone…_ he thought.

"I have a gift for you too, actually," Mosspoppy murmured. "Antwatcher isn't gone forever. His kin live on."

"Yes they do," Quailwhisker agreed, then realized where she was going with that. "You're carrying his kits."

"You're a little perceptive than he was, it seems," Mosspoppy said, purring sadly. "It was so easy to surprise him."

"Did he know?"

"As soon as I knew he did too," she told him.

"You're not _giving_ them to me?!" he demanded, horrified. "I don't know anything about kits! Have you _met_ me?"

"I think so," she teased, and shook her head. "I'm not _giving_ them to you, I'm saying there's going to be more Antwatcher in the world, which I can only imagine as a good thing. I was actually wondering if you'd help me raise them."

"I- I can try."

"That's all we can really ask for in each other," Mosspoppy said, smiling sadly as she watched the sun in the gray sky.

"It's what Antwatcher would want," Quailwhisker thought out loud, and smiled, knowing it was the truth. _I'll see you again one day, brother, and until then, I'll raise your mini-monsters._

…

4

Featherdawn watched the sun set with a little, sad smile on her face.

The new tradition of the eight days was a wonderful idea and she was pleased that the previously-useless seeming kittypet that had only joined their Clan about a moon ago had suggested it. Rosie was proving useful in ways Featherdawn hadn't expected. _Our Clan could use the morale; I'm glad Lightstar decided to make Rosie's Eight Days a tradition._

She'd already given gifts to each member of her family, even her new little siblings, such little kits that she doubted they'd remember her gifts when they were older.

Each member of her family except one, that is.

In the past moon, her family had gained another cat; Featherdawn's mate Redfleck. _She certainly brings a little fire into our little group,_ Featherdawn reflected, thinking of her stiff and well-mannered family with a purr. _I think we needed that, though._

Redfleck had a kind of passionate fire burning inside her that Featherdawn was completely unfamiliar with, and they'd been drawn together. _Opposites attract,_ she reflected. _I wonder if she finds me boring sometimes, but maybe that's what she likes too. A little bit of still water to her raging inferno._

StarClan knew it wasn't always a blessing, though, like now.

Most of her family had accepted Redfleck as a sort of necessary evil to make their kin happy, but Featherdawn's mother, Applemask, had been slightly more hesitant. And by hesitant, she had flat-out refused to accept her new daughter-by-mate.

 _I love my mother, but she can be rather… judgemental,_ Featherdawn thought, sighing. _And I'll make her come around. But Redfleck was out of line._

The thick-furred and thicker-headed chestnut-brown she-cat had decided to ask Applemask for her blessing to become mates with her daughter, which hadn't gone well. Applemask was rather uncertain about agreeing to bless MireClan's fireball to go be mates with her daughter.

 _And uncertain was an understatement._

Redfleck had… not reacted well.

 _"I told her exactly where she could shove her blessing!"_

Featherdawn sighed, shaking her head. _Redfleck just… doesn't really get how our family works. Applemask seems stuck in her ways, I know, but I can convince her. I can convince her so long as she and Redfleck haven't torn out each other's throats first._

Featherdawn had kept her nose out of every cat's business for as long as she could remember; it was best to let other cats sort it out in her experience. But both Redfleck and Applemask, the two most important cats in the Clan to her, seemed unmoving. _I love my mother, but she needs to know that my business is my business, and Redfleck needs to know that lashing out at every cat that does something you don't like isn't going to get her very far._

She sighed. _And it'll be a miracle from StarClan themselves if Redfleck apologizes. Or Applemask for that matter, and I hardly think it'll occur to either of them that they owe_ me _an apology. So no gifts for either of them. But I'm kind of running out of cats to gift. Maybe I should give something to Rosie, to welcome her to the Clan and thank her._

As she racked her brain for something she could give to the kittypet, the sound of pawsteps made her turn.

"Hey. Want some company?" Redfleck asked softly.

Softening as she gazed into the amber eyes she knew so well, she purred, "Sure."

The thick-furred, flecked she-cat sat with a bit of a grunt.

They sat in silence, though Featherdawn had the distinct feeling Redfleck was working up the courage to tell her something. Featherdawn's worst habit of catastrophising was beginning to come out as the suspense continued.

 _What if she's telling me that because of my stiff family, she doesn't want to be with me? Or she found someone else? Sandstone is more beautiful than me, Briarfrost is a lot more fun than I am, Goldenmist's more generous…_

"Alright, no easy way to do this," Redfleck grunted.

Featherdawn's heart seized and she swallowed hard. "Just say it."

"I'm sorry."

 _What?_

"You're- you're what?" she stammered, puzzled.

"Well don't make me say it again," Redfleck muttered, but at Featherdawn's utterly bamboozled look, she cleared her throat. "Alright, look. I was kind of being a stick in the mud about the whole Applemask thing. She's your mum, and I shouldn't have- well, y'know. Anyways. It was bad; I should have listened to you."

"You should have listened to me," Featherdawn echoed.

Redfleck snorted. "I'm not going to say it _again_."

"Sorry. Just savouring it. Don't know when I'll get another gift from StarClan like this," Featherdawn teased.

"It's not a gift from StarClan, it's a gift from _me_ ," Redfleck snorted. "Rosie's weird tradition thing?"

Featherdawn laughed until her chest hurt. "Only you would give the gift of an apology."

"Well, I don't do it often, so don't get used to it," Redfleck mumbled, licking her chest self-consciously. "But… sacrifices or whatever. Right? I don't know. I hate apologizing."

"Then you shouldn't get into so many situations where you need to," Featherdawn told her, only half-joking.

Redfleck huffed, but had no retort to that. Featherdawn could only stay firm for a moment before she relaxed and touched her nose to her best friend and mate's.

"Thank you, it means a lot that you'd swallow your pride for me," she murmured.

Redfleck looked away then glanced back at her with a crooked smile. "Well, you're worth it."

"I was considering giving you a gift regardless of whether you apologized, but I'm glad you did so you at least earned it," Featherdawn said, flicking the other she-cat with her tail.

"A gift for me?" Redfleck perked up instantly.

"Close your eyes and follow me."

…

5

Goldenmist had never found it very hard to give.

In fact, she felt like she'd spent her whole life giving and the Eight Days thing was just a new way to do it. She'd been a kit when she'd first given up something for someone else.

But it was the fifth day, and it seemed like things were going to be different. She'd already given her sister Cloverfang a gift; a seashell she'd found by the CliffClan border, cream and unbroken unlike most of the others that washed up on the shore.

It had been nice, certainly, a pretty nest decoration, but Cloverfang wasn't the sort that could subsist on frivolity alone. She was a hard-worker, a go-getter, a powerhouse of a cat that took apart obstacles and continued forwards without hesitation.

But Cloverfang's current obstacle was something that Goldenmist hadn't been certain she could let her sister overcome.

Because there was tom now; Cloverfang had fallen in love, something Goldenmist had deigned too fanciful for her pragmatic sister, and Goldenmist would've been overjoyed under any other circumstances. Except these circumstances.

Cloverfang was in love with Stonesplash, a.k.a. Stonesplash the loud, rude, self-centred fox-heart, and the tom that had walked all over Goldenmist for the better part of her life. They'd been friends, though Goldenmist wasn't certain she could call it that in retrospect.

Goldenkit and Cloverkit had grown up alongside Stonekit, Sandkit, and Shellkit, and given the… _situation_ that Stonekit's family was in, the tiny tom had found easy comfort in the presence of Goldenkit.

After all, there wasn't much she had that other cats didn't have, but that made her rather… desperate. She winced to think about it, remembering how hard she'd tried to impress him and get him to like her.

At the moment, she was sitting in the camp, smiling with a hint of bittersweetness as she watched the happy couples and families. _I wish Cloverfang had fallen for someone a little more… caring. Or perceptive. Or- not Stonesplash._

That tom simply didn't know when he was hurting another cat, and Goldenmist's instincts told her to protect her sister against it. _I know I never told him what he was doing… but could he really not see how miserable I was?_

She winced to think about it.

After all, giving was Goldenmist's superpower, but it wasalso a curse.

What kind of cat was so generous that they ended up hurting themselves? _What did I do wrong?_

But Stonesplash was also at fault, wasn't he? He'd taken advantage of her. He hadn't bothered stopping and thinking, _Maybe I shouldn't let Goldenmist do all this stuff for me, it's kind of getting ridiculous. And it's cutting into her training. She seems upset. She's my friend and I want to help her._

And yet… he hadn't. And here they were. The moment he'd become a warrior, she'd been dropped like dirty bedding and his new group of friends didn't seem to have space for her.

 _But they had space for Cloverfang. That's nice, isn't it?_ Goldenmist sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. _I can be generous to a fault and then the heartbeat it comes to my own littermate's happiness, it's suddenly all about me?_

Shaking out her pelt, she took a deep breath. _Well, I gave her a shell… maybe I should go find some other cat to give a gift to. Who needs something right now?_

Her paws took her to the nursery and she padded in, feeling a little awkward at the thick scent of milk and newborns.

Applemask's new litter was slumbering at her side, and Robinclaw's kits had climbed into Honeyfish's nest to join the golden she-cat's litter.

It was early morning, and the first to wake were Applemask's trio of tiny kittens, that opened their mouths and began to cry. _I didn't wake them up,_ Goldenmist told herself as she backpedalled guiltily. _They'd be waking up anyways._

"Oh hush, go back to sleep," Applemask grunted crankily as she was awoken.

Goldenmist shrank away, but all the kits were awake now. _Well, the damage is done, I guess._

Honeyfish raised her head, and the clarity in her eye suggested that she'd been awake for longer than her supine form suggested.

"Oh! Good morning, Goldenmist," the queen murmured, giving one of her squirming kits a lick on the head. "Reminding yourself why you don't ever want to have kits?"

Applemask's litter was now shrieking.

"Ah, no, that was more of a- side-effect," Goldenmist joked awkwardly, still trying to retreat out of the nursery backwards.

"I'll let her deal with them; I should bring my kits out now anyway," Honeyfish said sympathetically. "They'll be happier away from the crying."

Goldenmist nodded and helped her nudge the two litters out of the queen's nest. _Poor Honeyfish. Robinclaw's always out, and she has to deal with all these kits… What could I gift her? Hm…_

"How's Cloverfang doing?" Honeyfish asked amiably as they herded the kits out of the nursery.

 _Like she read my mind…_ "Um, she's, yeah- she's good," Goldenmist said awkwardly.

"Is there littermate trouble?" The queen glanced at her, but there wasn't a hint of malice, only concerned curiosity.

 _I trust her. She's trying to help,_ Goldenmist thought and sighed. _I guess it might help to talk about it._ "Well, there's this tom, Stonesplash-"

"Ah," Honeyfish nodded knowingly.

"Oh! Not like that!" she exclaimed, shaking her head and her fur heating. "No. I just… I don't think she'll be happy with him…"

Honeyfish nodded slowly, though her eyes narrowed a little.

"Any reason, or you just don't think any tom's good enough for your sister?" Honeyfish asked with a little smile.

"We were 'friends', but he kind of… used me?" Goldenmist shook her head, frustrated with her continual inability to explain exactly what her problem with him was. "Like, I gave him a lot and always made an effort and stuff, and then he sort of… abandoned me."

Honeyfish nodded slowly. "Ah. I see. So he's not a great cat and you don't want your sister getting hurt."

"Exactly!"

"Does she know how you feel about him?"

"Yeah."

"And she still wants to be in a relationship with him?"  
"Yeah."

They sat in silence as Honeyfish looked at her expectantly and Goldenmist stared at her paws. _But still! She knows and she doesn't care!_ "It just feels like she doesn't trust me."

"It sounds like you don't trust her," Honeyfish observed gently.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, she's made an informed decision but you still think she's wrong," the queen pointed out as they watched the two litters run around the nursery, playing. "What if they're a good match for each other?"

Goldenmist huffed a bit at the suggestion, then sighed. "I don't know. I just don't want her to get hurt."

Honeyfish laughed a little. "Do you let her go on patrol?"

"Of course. What? She doesn't have to _ask_ me to go on patrol," Goldenmist replied, puzzled.

"Yeah, 'cause it's her life," Honeyfish told her, purring. "Even if she's going to get hurt on patrol, you're not going to keep her in the camp just in case, because Cloverfang can take care of herself."

"But…" Goldenmist sighed.

Honeyfish raised her eyebrows.

"Alright, you're right."

"Of course I am," Honeyfish said cheerfully, watching her kits play with Robinclaw's. "Now why don't you go talk with your sister? I'm sure she'd appreciate you letting her know you've seen the light."

Goldenmist laughed and shook her head. "I guess I needed to hear that. Thank you."

 _Maybe I'll get her a gift tomorrow, but I think I know who I'm giving a gift to today._

She glanced across the clearing and searched for sister. When the familiar golden and brown pelt padded out of the warriors' den, Goldenmist hurried over.

"Cloverfang, can we talk? I have a gift to give you."

…

6

Honeyfish sighed as she woke to the screaming of Applemask's kits once more.

 _Come on. Not even one quiet morning?_ Honeyfish had trouble getting the kits to sleep last night, and it didn't seem that the lost sleep would be made up for in the morning. _Can't she just put them into their nests later so they sleep more?_

Sighing, she blinked her eyes open and squinted against the pale leaf-bare light filtering into the nursery. _It's going to be a long day…_ She felt mildly ill.

The Eight Days tradition had definitely been bringing more light and community to the Clan than before, but it was becoming harder to keep a bright smile on her face when the kits were draining her energy every day. The meager hours she would manage squeeze in while her kits were thankfully slumbering didn't ever seem like enough to recharge all her energy.

Especially not when she had Robinclaw's litter to deal with in addition to Aspenkit, Pebblekit, and Dawnkit.

With another sigh, she rubbed her eyes with a paw. _I love Robinclaw, but… her kits are her own. Sharing responsibilities is fine, but she really should… deal with them._

Stumbling out of her nest to give her kits more room to squirm around, Honeyfish stretched. The cold leaf-bare wind made her bones ache and the stinging nettle Cedarwillow had provided didn't seem to be helping.

The kits were waking up.

 _I'll get them,_ she said to herself. Robinclaw was probably already out on patrol.

"Good morning, my lovelies," she said as warmly as she could manage with her raspy, tired voice. "Ready for a fun day of play-"

"Quiet!" Applemask snapped raggedly, most likely at her wailing kits, though Honeyfish flinched anyways.

"Let's head out into the camp and find something to eat, okay?" Honeyfish said, trying to an upbeat tone. "Lionkit, leave your brother alone."

The kits were squabbling.

 _I'll stop them,_ she thought determinedly.

"Toadkit, come on this side of me, Lionkit, sit over there. We'll have more space for everybody once we're out in the camp," she told them firmly.

With a few grumbles, they separated.

She ushered the herd of kits out of the nursery, trying not to cringe at the screams of Applemask's kits. _She'll quiet them down. I'm sure she will. I don't have to quiet them._

"Let's find something from the fresh-kill pile to-" Honeyfish began to suggest when Pebblekit squealed.

"Ow! Toadkit, get off!"

"Not my fault your tail's under my feet!"

 _I'll stop them._

"Kits, separate. Pebblekit, come sit by me. Toadkit, why don't you and your sister get us something to eat?" Honeyfish said, fighting the frustration.

With grumbles, the two littermates scampered off to ransack the fresh-kill pile. Taking a deep breath, Honeyfish sat and tried to settle onto the cold ground. _The aches are getting worse. I should probably go see Cedarwillow when I get a free moment. If I get a free moment._

"We got a squirrel," Toadkit announced, dragging it back.

"I want a leg!" Dawnkit exclaimed.

"I want a leg too!" Aspenkit chimed in.

Honeyfish glanced at Pebblekit, and just as she predicted, the little gray tabby's face darkened stormily. "But I want one _too_!"

 _I'll solve it._

"Come on kits, you have to share. Aspenkit, why don't you give your sister some of your leg and Toadkit and Dawnkit can share?" Honeyfish suggested.

"But-" Lionkit exclaimed. "It's not fair! You always give them special treatment!"

Honeyfish felt a migraine coming on. _The sun's barely up and we're already here…_

"Lionkit, that's not true. You'll have to just have some meat from the body, alright?" Honeyfish told the kit irritably, feeling her patience beginning to drain. "It's just the same."

Lionkit's bottom lip quivered and pain sparked behind Honeyfish's eyes. _Meltdown in three, two-_

"Good morning, Honeyfish!" Robinclaw exclaimed, trotting over to the other she-cat and her cluster of kits.

"Morning, Robinclaw," Honeyfish replied, her gaze darting over to Lionkit as the golden she-kit seemed to swell with a tantrum.

 _I'll calm her down,_ she thought resignedly.

"I have a gift for you today!" Robinclaw announced.

"Oh?" Honeyfish said tiredly, not having the energy to do much other than nudge the squirrel closer to the wailing Lionkit.

"Morning, Honeyfish." Seven moons later, and his voice still made her fur heat and her tongue tie.

"Hello, Cloudpetal," she said softly, feeling a little cheer return to her at the sight of her mate.

"My gift," Robinclaw interrupted, "is him. And me."

"Er, what?" Honeyfish asked, cocking her head. "Sorry- um, I should- deal with…"

Lionkit was inconsolable.

"No, I should," Robinclaw countered. "I've been avoiding my duties as a mother for too long. I want to keep up with being a warrior, but it was unfair to dump everything on you. So my gift is I'm going to take care of the kits all day and you're going to go out with Cloudpetal and have a day all to yourselves."

Honeyfish couldn't help a gasp. _Prayers answered._

"Do you mean that?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah!" Robinclaw said. "It'll be tough, but you're not allowed to lift a paw to help me."

Honeyfish laughed raspily. "You don't mean that. Come on, it's pretty hard. You sure you don't want help?"  
"Not from you!" the brown tabby exclaimed, a determined gleam in her eye. "You're taking the day off if I have to throw you out of the camp myself."

"I'll help you," Cloudpetal agreed with a purr. "C'mon, Honeyfish, we haven't gotten a chance to go out like we used to. Let's enjoy the leaf-bare forest, together, today."

"Okay!" Honeyfish agreed, trying not to feel guilty about giving in so easily. "If you need anything, or if Dawnkit's being fussy about-"

"Shush! No kit-talk!" Robinclaw ordered, and Honeyfish purred. _Yeah, she'll do fine with the kits._

"Come on, the clear-pond froze over and it's beautiful," Cloudpetal said, spinning on his heel and beckoning her out of camp.

Honeyfish glanced back and saw Robinclaw comforting Lionkit and talking to her in low, firm tones. _It'll be fine,_ she told herself. _I deserve a day off._

"Let's go," she told her mate, feeling energy return to her.

…

7

 _Spottedwing, Gingerdust, Doethistle, Amberbrook, Ivysky, Lightstar._

Stagthorn was out of cats.

 _Couldn't it have been Rosie's Six Days?_

His family, friends, and close-acquaintances had all been given gifts, and he had no idea what cat he could give a gift to for the seventh day, much less the eighth.

 _Uh… Cedarwillow? I could thank him for his service to the Clan. But he probably has all of his days planned… He'll feel awkward if I choose him for one of my days and he doesn't…_

Stagthorn could hand out orders and plan a day's patrol with ease. StarClan, he considered himself an expert on pairing apprentices and warriors to make the training experience as smooth and rewarding as possible.

But casual social situations with his Clanmates?

He'd rather fight the Dark Forest with his paws tied to his tail.

 _Come on, Stagthorn,_ think _. There must be_ some _cat…_

Sighing, he dropped his head into his paws. _Nope. No cat. Great._

Lifting his gaze, he scanned the camp like a hunter, searching for prey that he could bestow a gift upon. _One of the queens? One of the apprentices? Would that be weird, though? One of the elders? Well, one of the_ other _elders?_

No cat jumped out at him as a cat that he particularly wanted to do something nice for.

His eyes landed on the poorly-stocked fresh-kill pile, where Icelake and Whitebranch were both making gracious shows of selflessness by encouraging the other to take prey first, while simultaneously glancing back and forth between Lightstar and Stagthorn.

 _Aha._

It _would_ be nice to end the new tradition by retiring to the elders' den, spend Amberbrook's last moons alongside the elderly tom. He and Doethistle could go for walks. Maybe he'd even grow closer to Cedarwillow and Adderstrike like he'd always thought he'd like to but hadn't ever had the guts to try.

Of course, this wasn't a new pleasant daydream of his, but maybe Rosie's Eight Days would be the chance he needed to finally make it a reality. Maybe, just maybe, he could finally just wake up one morning and get breakfast before deciding what the rest of the Clan would be doing that day.

 _But I need to choose._

It had been moons since he and Lightstar had decided he should retire, but after narrowing down the selection to Icelake and Whitebranch, they had been unable to make any more progress. Each of them was equally qualified; they'd been made warriors around the same time, had trained apprentices from the same litter, had contributed the same amount to the Clan… It was impossible to choose the better of the two.

Sighing, he padded into Lightstar's den.

"Lightstar?"

MireClan's leader had been meticulously arranging the moss in the dip serving as a nest when Stagthorn interrupted.

"Um, sorry to bother you," he apologized quickly, dipping his head.

"Oh no, it's no trouble!" His golden-eyed leader replied cheerfully. "How can I help?"

"Well, I was thinking that for the seventh day of Rosie's Eight Days, I could… um, give up deputyship," he explained. "You know. As a gift."

"To Icelake or Whitebranch?" Lightstar replied teasingly. "Ah. What a conundrum. Even trained littermates."

Stagthorn cocked his head as an idea began to form. "What if… well, we know how they are in relation to us, right? Based on how they treat us. And we can also see what they do for the Clan. But we can't know how they are in relation to other cats."

"How do you figure?" Interest began to gleam in Lightstar's golden eyes.

"Like… we don't know how young warriors see those two. What they think of them." Stagthorn cracked a smile as he saw that Lighstar was beginning to catch on. "So… I think we should talk to Featherdawn and Silverspiral."

"Their old apprentices. Brilliant; I knew I made you deputy for some reason," Lightstar said with a little laugh. "Were you going to talk to them then? After all, you should be the one deciding who should succeed you."

Stagthorn purred as well, nodding. "Alright. I'll go search them out. Would you pick up the patrols then?"

Lightstar waved him out of the leader's den. "Yes, yes, I'll sort it all out."

He grinned, feeling the weight of the responsibility lift off his shoulders. _This is the kind of thing that I could get used to. Everyday… Hailpaw, Shroudpaw, Mistypaw, and Grasspaw all taking care of things. Telling stories to Robinclaw, Honeyfish, and Applemask's kits, regaling them with stories about the old days of MireClan…_

The same tug in his chest reminded him that it could be reality in days.

"Silverspiral! Could I speak to you for a moment or two?" Stagthorn called the young she-cat over.

"Need me for a patrol?" the young silver tabby asked expectantly, but he shook his head. "Oh? What is it then?"

He gestured to the exit of camp with his chin, and Silverspiral shrugged.

"Alright. I could use a walk to stretch my legs," Silverspiral commented cheerfully, not seeming to mind that after his initial offer he had clammed up completely.

 _Think! What do you want to know about Whitebranch? But… be subtle about it,_ he told himself firmly. _His… leadership? Well, start with an easy one!_

"Everything seems to be going by so fast," he said after an awkwardly long silence. "Seems like just yesterday you were an apprentice, rampaging around in the forest with Whitebranch."

 _Smooth! So smooth!_ he congratulated himself. _Now we're on the subject of Whitebranch! Perfect!_

"Yeah, those were the days," she said, a hint of humour dancing in her blue eyes. "Being ordered around, clearing stinky bedding, practicing the hunter's crouch until I was so stiff I couldn't even curl up in my nest…"

Stagthorn tried for a casual laugh but felt like it was more of a squawk. "Yeah, training is hard for apprentices. Was Whitebranch particularly bad, though?"

Silverspiral didn't immediately respond, just frowned thoughtfully, and Stagthorn thought, _Good, we might get something here…_

"Well… I wouldn't say bad, exactly," Silverspiral said slowly. "It's just… I don't know. We didn't mesh too well. He was very stuck-up and serious all the time… I think I probably would've worked harder if I'd liked him, and I would've liked him if he'd, well, I don't know, relaxed a little sometimes."

Stagthorn nodded thoughtfully. _Stuck-up and serious? That sounds… not great for a deputy. Though Silverspiral is rather outgoing, so perhaps he just took a more mature approach…_

"I think he's a good cat, I just… I don't know. It's like he just assumes that complete control and lack of humour is the best way to handle _every_ situation," Silverspiral said sagely. "I think there's a time and a place, but not _every_ time and not _every_ place."

Stagthorn blinked. _That makes a lot of sense. Whitebranch is rather… stoic._

They walked in companionable silence for another while before returning to camp. Whitebranch and Icelake both immediately perked up as he re-entered the camp.

 _Where's Featherdawn? I swear, if one of them walks up to me and offers- ugh, offers me_ anything _, I'm going to murder both of them and then serve a few more moons as deputy…_

Before either of the deputy-hopefuls could get their chance, he hurried across the camp towards the long-furred gray tabby that was lazily sunning herself in one of the last patches of sunlight. "Featherdawn! Care to go for a walk?"  
The she-cat stood, shaking out her pelt and shrugged. "Sure! It's a nice day, for leaf-bare."

He nodded, ushering her out, eager to get to the part where he could curl up in a warm, toasty nest in the elders' den and not have to worry about sorting out the patrols for the day.

"Everything seems to be going so fast," he said quickly, figuring he could just re-use the line from before since it had worked. "Feels like just yesterday that you were an apprentice, trailing Icelake around the forest."

Featherdawn tossed her head, laughing. "It does, doesn't it? Something about leaf-bare really makes you realize time is passing…"

"It's so different, you know… Green-leaf and all has the earth and the trees," he said vaguely. "Leaf-bare's just white and snowy."

 _Steer the conversation back towards mentors!_

"Um."

Featherdawn glanced at him, but after several heartbeats of the deputy saying nothing, glanced away into the trees.

"Uh- are you looking to maybe mentor one of Robinclaw's kits or something?" he asked. "Or Honeyfish's?"

The gray tabby cocked her head. "Hm. Maybe? I think I would make a pretty good mentor, as long as the kit wasn't too… er, rambunctious."

Stagthorn nodded in agreement. He'd thought he was an excellent mentor when he'd had Petalsky, then along came Redfleck and he was no longer so certain. Featherdawn would also be suited to a more mature and calm apprentice. _I hope the future deputy of MireClan is good at matching mentors and apprentices. The relationship formed between them is really important._

"Will you take any tips from Icelake? Or maybe a lesson in what not to do?" he pushed carefully.

Featherdawn cracked a smile. "Icelake was a wonderful mentor, actually. I sometimes miss being able to wake up and just listen to what he told me. He had a way of sort of intuitively knowing what kind of training I was up for that day."

Stagthorn cocked his head. _Ah. Seems he might be the clear fore-runner then._

"He was very understanding too, actually," she commented. "Gave me advice on my hopeless crush on Redpaw… Well, maybe not advice, but he listened. He was a good listener."

 _Then I guess we have it right there._

"Shall we head back?"

When they got back into the camp, Stagthorn sighed happily. _This might be the last time I ever come back in as the deputy of MireClan._ There had been bittersweetness in the first couple moons, then it had devolved into simple desperation for release from his duties.

"Lightstar!" he called cheerfully, and waved his tail in farewell to Featherdawn.

 _I have a cat to give a gift to for the seventh day._

 _Icelake; he'll be deputy._

 _And me; I'll be retired._

…

8

Rosie watched MireClan as they went about their final day of the gift exchange, or Rosie's Eight Days as it had become known. It was a little embarrassing to have a kithood tradition suddenly being attributed to her, but she was pleased the Clan had become such a warm place despite the bitter weather.

"Rosie, could I speak to you alone for a moment?" The warm voice of Lightstar interrupted her musings.

"Certainly, Lightstar!" she said immediately, then wondered if she'd been _too_ enthusiastic. For whatever reason, her words seemed to come faster around the creamy-white-furred leader of MireClan. "I mean, yes of course. That is, I-"

She cut herself off before she could make a further fool of herself. Following Lightstar into the mossy rocks that formed the leader's den, she pondered her own speech. _Maybe it's literally just attraction. I guess it doesn't always have to be repressed this or that, or a defensive memory from such and such kithood experience…_

With a little purr, she remembered Remy's penchant for psychoanalytics on mundane occurrences.

"Rosie, would you consider taking a full warrior name?"

That had not been what she was expecting.

On further reflection, she didn't know _what_ she'd been expecting, but it wasn't this.

"You- a warrior? You want to make me a warrior?" she echoed, dumbfounded.

"Well, you know, we could make arrangements if you didn't feel suited to fulfilling ordinary duties," Lightstar explained. "But we should make you more officially part of the Clan. Well, I want to make you more officially part of the Clan."  
Her eyebrows rose and she cocked her head. "And if I can't hunt and fight and all that? Will your Clan accept me?"

Lightstar's mouth opened in immediate response, and then closed. The leader seemed to contemplate the question. "Well, Cedarwillow doesn't hunt and fight. Neither do the elders', or the nursing queens."

"But they're-" she began to protest, then shook her head. "They're providing a service to the Clan, all the same."

"And so are you," Lightstar said, shrugging. "I don't see how it's different. Warriors keep the Clan strong, medicine cats keep the Clan healthy, queens bring new life into the Clan, and elders keep the history alive. You bring light and joy."

Her throat closed unexpectedly. _Lightstar thinks I bring light and joy._ It was overwhelming to be praised so highly by the most powerful member of the Clan. She certainly didn't think she fully understood every aspect of the different ranks' roles, but she knew enough.

"Th- thank you. That means a lot," she said quietly.

"The whole Clan is delighted to have you among us," Lightstar said earnestly. "They'd be overjoyed if you made your place with us official."

Rosie felt a sunny smile break across her face. "Then I'd love to."

The leader mirrored the smile and leapt up from the nest. "Then I don't see why right now shouldn't be the time to do it!"

"Now?" Rosie echoed.

"Why not? It's the last day, every cat's in a giving mood, I think a ceremony might be just the thing," Lightstar said decidedly. "Shall we?"

"I don't see why not!" she replied with a hint of giddiness.

Lightstar's smile grew. They left the den and Lightstar jumped up on the oldlog to deliver the ceremony.

As MireClan gathered, Rosie quickly smoothed her pelt self-consciously.

Lightstar's sunbeam-grin didn't waver through the ceremony. "Spirits of StarClan, you know every cat by name. I ask you now to take away the name from the cat you see before you, for she has chosen to give up the life of a kittypet and join MireClan permanently. By my authority as a Clan leader, and with the approval of our warrior ancestors, I give this cat a new name."

Rosie smiled shyly as Lightstar's muzzle rested lightly on her head for a moment.

"From this moment on, she will be known as Rosyglow, for the light she brings to our Clan."

Cheers broke out and Rosyglow glanced up into Lightstar's brilliant golden eyes and knew that a new home had been found for her.

"This is the most wonderful gift in all of the 'Rosie's Eight Days'," she murmured.

"Hmm, is it Rosyglow's Eight Days now?" the leader mused, then gasped. "The Eight Rosy Days!"

"The Eight Rosy Days," she repeated, a dizzy smile spreading over her face. "May we celebrate it for seasons to come."

 **Was it supposed to be 10k ish words? No. Was it anyways? Yeah. It do be like that sometimes.**

 **Word Count: 9291**

 **I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Tell me in a review which gift was your favourite. I hadn't actually planned out an entire Clan, but it was just too much fun to weave together little links in the storylines.**

 **~Akila**


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